28 lakes with water-quality readings within 4 hr of downtown
Driving from Austin to a lake worth swimming in
Walter E Long Lake Mid Lake is the closest lake with water-quality readings to Austin, 23 min away. Lake Cisco has clear, low-nutrient readings and takes 3 hr 55 min, 3 hr 32 min more in the car, each way, for cleaner water.
Every lake below is ranked by how long the drive is, and each links to its own water-quality readings. Closest is not the same as cleanest, and this page will not pretend otherwise.
Closer, or cleaner — the whole ladder
28 lakes, sorted by drive time from downtown Austin. 1 of them have clear, low-nutrient readings. The furthest entry is Lake Athens at 3 hr 58 min.
| Drive | Lake | Road miles | County | Size | Access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 min | Walter E Long Lake Mid Lake | 10.7 | Travis County, TX | 1,269 ac | Not recorded |
| 2 hr 3 min | Lake Somerville Mid Lake | 88.2 | Burleson County, TX | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 2 hr 6 min | New Marlin City Lake | 108.4 | Falls County, TX | 485 ac | ✓ Public |
| 2 hr 23 min | Tradinghouse Creek Reservoir | 111.8 | McLennan County, TX | 2,012 ac | ✓ Public |
| 2 hr 37 min | Whitney Lake | 123.1 | Hill County, TX | 23,560 ac | ✓ Public |
| 2 hr 37 min | Navarro Mills Lake | 142 | Navarro County, TX | 5,070 ac | ✓ Public |
| 2 hr 43 min | Lake Mexia | 137.5 | Limestone County, TX | 1,009 ac | Not recorded |
| 2 hr 45 min | Springfield Lake | 140.7 | Limestone County, TX | 700 ac | ✓ Public |
| 2 hr 57 min | Lake Whitney | 155.7 | Bosque County, TX | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr | Lake Brownwood N End of Dam | 148.1 | Brown County, TX | 7,300 ac | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 7 min | Lake Conroe | 148.3 | Montgomery County, TX | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 13 min | Lake Brownwood | 158.4 | Brown County, TX | 7,300 ac | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 20 min | Lake Houston | 167.5 | Harris County, TX | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 3 hr 27 min | Lynchburg Reservoir | 182.1 | Harris County, TX | 200 ac | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 33 min | Lake Houston S Union Pacific Rr Bridge | 174.1 | Harris County, TX | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 3 hr 33 min | Marine Creek Lake | 196.7 | Tarrant County, TX | 209 ac | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 34 min | Pat Cleburne Reservoir | 175.1 | Johnson County, TX | 1,550 ac | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 37 min | White Rock Lake | 200.5 | Dallas County, TX | 1,119 ac | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 38 min | Houston County Lake | 186.4 | Houston County, TX | 1,282 ac | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 42 min | Lake Weatherford | 206.4 | Parker County, TX | 1,090 ac | Not recorded |
| 3 hr 43 min | Lake Coleman | 185.9 | Coleman County, TX | 1,886 ac | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 48 min | Leon Reservoir | 182.7 | Eastland County, TX | 1,590 ac | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 49 min | Lake Palo Pinto | 189.5 | Palo Pinto County, TX | 2,661 ac | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 51 min | Purtis Creek Lake | 206.8 | Henderson County, TX | 349 ac | Not recorded |
| 3 hr 55 min | Lake Cisco | 188.6 | Eastland County, TX | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 56 min | Livingston Reservoir | 197.4 | Polk County, TX | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 57 min | Grapevine Lake | 216.5 | Tarrant County, TX | 7,380 ac | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 58 min | Lake Athens | 205 | Henderson County, TX | 1,471 ac | Not recorded |
What the numbers are, and are not
Drive times and road miles are one-way road routing from downtown Austin to the nearest public road at each lake, over the OpenStreetMap network via OSRM (router.project-osrm.org) over OpenStreetMap, driving profile, free-flow. Free-flow means no traffic model and no time of day, so a weekend morning will beat these numbers and a Friday afternoon will not.
Each lake’s water-quality readings, phosphorus, nitrogen, chlorophyll-a and turbidity measured over years by state and federal agencies, are on its own page. They describe the lake’s record; they do not clear the water for a particular afternoon, and they say nothing about the beach, the boat ramp or the view. Lakes with no nutrient or algae reading on record are not listed here, because the water is the only axis this page ranks on.
Size and access come from the lake record where the agency published them. “Not recorded” means nobody documented it — it is a gap in the paperwork, not a statement about the lake.
More lakes near Austin
Nearby cities
Common questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Lake Cisco in Eastland County, Texas. Its nutrient and algae readings are among the most favourable within reach, and the drive is 3 hr 55 min, or 188.6 road miles. The closest lake of any kind with readings on record is Walter E Long Lake Mid Lake at 23 min.
3 hr 32 min each way. Walter E Long Lake Mid Lake is 23 min out; Lake Cisco, with the more favourable readings, is 3 hr 55 min out.
21 of the 28 lakes here have a public access point on the record, and the closest is Lake Somerville Mid Lake, 2 hr 3 min away. The rest of the table shows "Not recorded" where no access point was documented, which is not the same as no access — check with the managing agency before you trailer a boat.
By road, from downtown Austin to the nearest public road at each lake, over the OpenStreetMap road network. They are free-flow times: no traffic, no time of day, no stops. Treat them as the floor, and add for rush hour and for the last stretch to the water.
No. The readings summarise years of phosphorus, nitrogen, algae and turbidity measurements; they describe the lake, not this afternoon. A beach closure, a bloom, or a heavy rain can change conditions overnight. Whether a lake is safe to swim in is a call for the state water agency and the county health department: check the lake's own page for its measurement record, and check the managing agency for current advisories before you get in.
Stay by the water, not by the highway
Cabins, hotels and rentals around Lake Cisco in Eastland County, the closest lake to Austin with the most favourable readings in range. 3 hr 55 min from downtown.
Top-rated places to stay near Lake Cisco
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