40 lakes with water-quality readings within 4 hr of downtown
Driving from Chicago to a lake worth swimming in
Flatfoot Lake is the closest lake with water-quality readings to Chicago, 29 min away. Lake Opeka has clear, low-nutrient readings and takes 32 min, 3 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
40 lakes, sorted by drive time from downtown Chicago. 16 of them have clear, low-nutrient readings. Some of the best water is over a state line — this list crosses into Indiana. The furthest entry is West Loon Lake at 1 hr 15 min.
| Drive | Lake | Road miles | County | Size | Access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 min | Flatfoot Lake | 18.4 | Cook County, IL | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 31 min | Skokie Lagoons Lake | 21.3 | Cook County, IL | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 32 min | Lake Opeka | 19.7 | Cook County, IL | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 33 min | Powderhorn Lake | 20.6 | Cook County, IL | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 34 min | Lake Calumet | 17.6 | Cook County, IL | 0 ac | Not recorded |
| 36 min | Axehead Lake | 20.2 | Cook County, IL | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 36 min | Saganashkee Slough Lake | 23.3 | Cook County, IL | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 36 min | Midlothian Lake | 23.6 | Cook County, IL | 30 ac | Not recorded |
| 37 min | Sag Quarry West Lake | 24.5 | Cook County, IL | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 38 min | Sag Quarry East Lake | 24.8 | Cook County, IL | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 39 min | Arrowhead Lake | 22.6 | Cook County, IL | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 39 min | Bullfrog Lake | 22.8 | Cook County, IL | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 39 min | Horsetail Lake | 24.7 | Cook County, IL | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 40 min | Turtlehead Lake | 22.6 | Cook County, IL | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 43 min | Wampum Lake | 26.5 | Cook County, IL | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 43 min | Tampier Lake | 27 | Cook County, IL | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 46 min | Poss Lake | 34.6 | DuPage County, IL | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 55 min | Middle Lagoon Lake | 34.7 | Lake County, IN | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 57 min | Zurich Lake | 36.5 | Lake County, IL | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 57 min | Diamond Lake | 39.4 | Lake County, IL | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 58 min | Grand Calumet Lagoon Lake | 36 | Lake County, IN | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 59 min | Louise Lake | 36.1 | Lake County, IL | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 1 hr | Monee Lake | 38.7 | Will County, IL | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 1 hr 1 min | Valley Lake | 45.8 | Lake County, IL | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 5 min | Tower Lake | 41.2 | Lake County, IL | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 5 min | Grays Lake | 46.5 | Lake County, IL | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 9 min | Slocum Lake | 44.2 | Lake County, IL | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 9 min | Round Lake | 49 | Lake County, IL | 242 ac | ✓ Public |
| 1 hr 10 min | Island Lake | 44.8 | McHenry County, IL | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 11 min | Woods Creek Lake | 49.6 | McHenry County, IL | 9 ac | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 11 min | Cedar Lake | 52.9 | Lake County, IL | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 12 min | Big Rock Lake | 50.6 | Kane County, IL | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 13 min | Lake Louise | 48.4 | Porter County, IN | 226 ac | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 13 min | Long Lake | 51.7 | Porter County, IN | 67 ac | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 13 min | Flint Lake | 52.1 | Porter County, IN | 107 ac | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 13 min | Deep Lake | 53 | Lake County, IL | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 14 min | Long Lake | 51.5 | Lake County, IL | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 1 hr 14 min | Loomis Lake | 51.7 | Porter County, IN | 58 ac | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 15 min | Silver Lake | 46.5 | McHenry County, IL | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 1 hr 15 min | West Loon Lake | 55 | Lake County, IL | Not recorded | Not recorded |
What the numbers are, and are not
Drive times and road miles are one-way road routing from downtown Chicago 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 Chicago
Nearby cities
Common questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Lake Opeka in Cook County, Illinois. Its nutrient and algae readings are among the most favourable within reach, and the drive is 32 min, or 19.7 road miles. The closest lake of any kind with readings on record is Flatfoot Lake at 29 min.
3 min each way. Flatfoot Lake is 29 min out; Lake Opeka, with the more favourable readings, is 32 min out.
11 of the 40 lakes here have a public access point on the record, and the closest is Flatfoot Lake, 29 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 Chicago 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 Opeka in Cook County, the closest lake to Chicago with the most favourable readings in range. 32 min from downtown.
Top-rated places to stay near Lake Opeka
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