40 graded lakes within 4 hr of downtown
Driving from Columbus to a lake worth swimming in
O'Shaughnessy Reservoir Lake is the closest graded water to Columbus, 30 min away, and it grades F. Marysville Upground Reservoir grades A and takes 51 min — 21 min more in the car, each way, for water that clears the bar.
Every lake below is ranked by how long the drive is, and labelled with the water-quality letter it earned. 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 Columbus. Letters in range: 1 A, 3 B, 14 C, 13 D, 9 F. Some of the best water is over a state line — this list crosses into Kentucky. The furthest entry is Sand Lick Creek Lake at 3 hr 21 min.
| Drive | Lake | Grade | Road miles | County | Size | Access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 min | O'Shaughnessy Reservoir Lake | F | 20.1 | Delaware County, OH | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 34 min | Hoover Reservoir | F | 21.9 | Delaware County, OH | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 39 min | Alum Creek Lake | F | 27.2 | Delaware County, OH | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 51 min | Marysville Upground Reservoir | A | 37.8 | Union County, OH | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 2 min | Lake Logan | D | 47.6 | Hocking County, OH | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 1 hr 3 min | Buck Creek Lake | F | 47.2 | Clark County, OH | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 9 min | Somerset Reservoir | F | 49.2 | Perry County, OH | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 13 min | St Joseph Lake | F | 51.1 | Perry County, OH | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 15 min | New Lexington Reservoir | C | 54.2 | Perry County, OH | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 17 min | Amicks Reservoir | F | 56.8 | Morrow County, OH | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 18 min | Amann Reservoir | D | 57.2 | Morrow County, OH | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 1 hr 18 min | Powers Reservoir | B | 57.5 | Crawford County, OH | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 1 hr 23 min | Caesar Creek Lake | D | 69.2 | Warren County, OH | 2,830 ac | ✓ Public |
| 1 hr 40 min | Upper Sandusky Reservoir | D | 67.7 | Wyandot County, OH | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 49 min | Burr Oak Reservoir | D | 74.1 | Morgan County, OH | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 54 min | Ferguson Reservoir | C | 89.2 | Allen County, OH | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 57 min | Metzger Reservoir | D | 90.5 | Allen County, OH | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 1 hr 57 min | Lost Creek Reservoir | B | 90.8 | Allen County, OH | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 57 min | Twin Lakes Reservoir | D | 91.1 | Allen County, OH | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 2 hr 3 min | Ottawa R Lake | C | 94.3 | Allen County, OH | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 2 hr 10 min | Findlay Reservoir | C | 91 | Hancock County, OH | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 2 hr 12 min | Bresler Reservoir | F | 99.9 | Allen County, OH | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 2 hr 12 min | Williams Reservoir | C | 99.9 | Allen County, OH | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 2 hr 23 min | Doe Run Lake | C | 117.2 | Kenton County, KY | 51 ac | ✓ Public |
| 2 hr 25 min | Fremont Reservoir | C | 103.7 | Sandusky County, OH | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 2 hr 30 min | Ottawa Reservoir | D | 113.5 | Putnam County, OH | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 2 hr 35 min | Campbell County Lake | C | 125.2 | Campbell County, KY | 193 ac | ✓ Public |
| 2 hr 42 min | Bullock Pen Lake | D | 135.4 | Boone County, KY | 150 ac | ✓ Public |
| 2 hr 47 min | Greenbo Lake | C | 119.9 | Greenup County, KY | 181 ac | ✓ Public |
| 2 hr 50 min | Boltz Lake | D | 143.2 | Grant County, KY | 92 ac | ✓ Public |
| 2 hr 59 min | Auglaize R Lake | F | 131.6 | Paulding County, OH | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 2 hr 59 min | Williamstown Lake | C | 147.2 | Grant County, KY | 300 ac | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 6 min | Grayson Lake | B | 142.1 | Carter County, KY | 1,510 ac | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 6 min | Kincaid Lake | C | 142.3 | Pendleton County, KY | 179 ac | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 7 min | General Butler State Park Lake | D | 161.2 | Carroll County, KY | 31 ac | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 12 min | Tiffin R Lake | C | 140.9 | Defiance County, OH | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 3 hr 13 min | Lake Elmer Davis | D | 162.1 | Owen County, KY | 149 ac | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 14 min | Maumee R Upst Independence Dam Lake | D | 143.3 | Defiance County, OH | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 3 hr 20 min | Smoky Valley Lake | C | 148.7 | Carter County, KY | 35 ac | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 21 min | Sand Lick Creek Lake | C | 148.5 | Fleming County, KY | 74 ac | ✓ Public |
What the numbers are, and are not
Drive times and road miles are one-way road routing from downtown Columbus 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.
The letter is the lake’s A–F water-quality grade: clarity, total phosphorus and chlorophyll-a measured over years, not a rating of the beach, the boat ramp or the view. An A describes the lake’s record; it does not clear the water for a particular afternoon. Lakes with no letter are not listed here, because the letter 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 Columbus
Nearby cities
Common questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Marysville Upground Reservoir in Union County, Ohio. It grades A and the drive is 51 min, or 37.8 road miles. The closest graded lake of any kind is O'Shaughnessy Reservoir Lake at 30 min, and it grades F.
21 min each way. O'Shaughnessy Reservoir Lake is 30 min out and grades F; Marysville Upground Reservoir is 51 min out and grades A.
22 of the 40 lakes here have a public access point on the record, and the closest is O'Shaughnessy Reservoir Lake, 30 min away, grading F. 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 Columbus 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 letter summarises years of phosphorus, nitrogen, algae and turbidity measurements — it describes the lake, not this afternoon. A beach closure, a bloom, or a heavy rain can change conditions on an A lake overnight. 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 Marysville Upground Reservoir in Union County — the closest lake to Columbus that grades A. 51 min from downtown.
Top-rated places to stay near Marysville Upground Reservoir
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