Late afternoon sun over Slim Lake, scattering a bright path across wind-textured water

40 lakes with water-quality readings within 4 hr of downtown

Driving from Detroit to a lake worth swimming in

Pleasant Lake is the closest lake with water-quality readings to Detroit, 42 min away. That is unusual: the closest lake is also the one with the most favourable readings within reach, so there is no tradeoff to make here.

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.

Closest water

Pleasant Lake

42 min

27.7 road miles · Oakland County, MI

The shortest drive on this page.

Closest clear, low-nutrient water

Pleasant Lake

42 min

27.7 road miles · Oakland County, MI

Also the closest lake of any kind.

Closest public access

Ore Lake

1 hr 4 min

49.1 road miles · Livingston County, MI

A boat landing or launch point is on the record for this lake.

Closer, or cleaner — the whole ladder

40 lakes, sorted by drive time from downtown Detroit. 23 of them have clear, low-nutrient readings. Some of the best water is over a state line — this list crosses into Ohio. The furthest entry is Ottawa R Lake at 2 hr 43 min.

Drive	Lake	Road miles	County	Size	Access
42 min	Pleasant Lake	27.7	Oakland County, MI	45 ac	Not recorded
44 min	Sylvan Lake	32.9	Oakland County, MI	387 ac	Not recorded
48 min	Cranberry Lake	41.8	Oakland County, MI	24 ac	Not recorded
52 min	Twin Lakes	33.1	Oakland County, MI	13 ac	Not recorded
53 min	Indianwood Lake	40.7	Oakland County, MI	49 ac	Not recorded
57 min	Cedar Is Lake	38.1	Oakland County, MI	Not recorded	Not recorded
57 min	Tull Lake	40.4	Oakland County, MI	81 ac	Not recorded
1 hr	Crystal Lake	48.2	Washtenaw County, MI	13 ac	Not recorded
1 hr 2 min	Glacier Lake	50.4	Washtenaw County, MI	15 ac	Not recorded
1 hr 4 min	Ore Lake	49.1	Livingston County, MI	229 ac	✓ Public
1 hr 10 min	Little Portage Lake	55.5	Washtenaw County, MI	Not recorded	Not recorded
1 hr 14 min	Cordley Lake	57.2	Livingston County, MI	45 ac	Not recorded
1 hr 14 min	Tamarack Lake	57.5	Livingston County, MI	19 ac	Not recorded
1 hr 15 min	Whitewood Lake	57.8	Livingston County, MI	68 ac	Not recorded
1 hr 15 min	North Lake	58.5	Washtenaw County, MI	224 ac	✓ Public
1 hr 18 min	Clear Lake	65.6	Jackson County, MI	130 ac	Not recorded
1 hr 21 min	Sugarloaf Lake	65.9	Washtenaw County, MI	280 ac	✓ Public
1 hr 26 min	Flint Park Lake	74.5	Genesee County, MI	16 ac	Not recorded
1 hr 34 min	Barnes Lake	67.6	Lapeer County, MI	110 ac	Not recorded
1 hr 43 min	Round Lake	75.8	Shiawassee County, MI	11 ac	Not recorded
1 hr 47 min	Lake Lansing	84.2	Ingham County, MI	453 ac	✓ Public
1 hr 50 min	Devils Lake	78	Lenawee County, MI	Not recorded	Not recorded
1 hr 51 min	Fremont Reservoir	91.5	Sandusky County, OH	Not recorded	Not recorded
1 hr 52 min	Crystal Lake	82	Hillsdale County, MI	125 ac	Not recorded
1 hr 53 min	Hemingway Lake	79.5	Lapeer County, MI	65 ac	Not recorded
1 hr 55 min	Round Lake	79.7	Lenawee County, MI	507 ac	Not recorded
1 hr 55 min	Manitou Lake	89.5	Shiawassee County, MI	80 ac	Not recorded
2 hr 13 min	Maumee R Upst Independence Dam Lake	109.7	Defiance County, OH	Not recorded	Not recorded
2 hr 18 min	Tiffin R Lake	113.4	Defiance County, OH	Not recorded	Not recorded
2 hr 24 min	Findlay Reservoir	110.7	Hancock County, OH	Not recorded	✓ Public
2 hr 27 min	Indian Lake	129	Kalamazoo County, MI	Not recorded	✓ Public
2 hr 29 min	Boot Lake	128.6	Kalamazoo County, MI	Not recorded	Not recorded
2 hr 31 min	Ottawa Reservoir	121.7	Putnam County, OH	Not recorded	Not recorded
2 hr 36 min	Lost Creek Reservoir	135.4	Allen County, OH	Not recorded	Not recorded
2 hr 37 min	Metzger Reservoir	135.8	Allen County, OH	Not recorded	✓ Public
2 hr 38 min	Ferguson Reservoir	137.1	Allen County, OH	Not recorded	Not recorded
2 hr 38 min	Little Long Lake	137.2	Barry County, MI	168 ac	✓ Public
2 hr 39 min	Lake Diane	126.5	Hillsdale County, MI	290 ac	✓ Public
2 hr 40 min	Auglaize R Lake	128.7	Paulding County, OH	Not recorded	Not recorded
2 hr 43 min	Ottawa R Lake	139	Allen County, OH	Not recorded	Not recorded

What the numbers are, and are not

Drive times and road miles are one-way road routing from downtown Detroit 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 Detroit

Every lake within 50 miles of Detroit

Ranked on water-quality readings, with distance from town

All Michigan lakes

Counties and measurement records statewide

Drive-time pages for other cities

The same tradeoff, measured from each metro

Nearby cities

From Cleveland

Nearest clear water: 1 hr 55 min

From Columbus

Nearest clear water: 51 min

From Cincinnati

Nearest clear water: 2 hr 26 min

From Buffalo

Nearest clear water: 2 hr 24 min

From Pittsburgh

Nearest clear water: 1 hr 22 min

From Chicago

Nearest clear water: 32 min

Common questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Pleasant Lake in Oakland County, Michigan. Its nutrient and algae readings are among the most favourable within reach, and the drive is 42 min, or 27.7 road miles. It is also the closest lake of any kind with readings on record.

Not longer at all. The closest lake to Detroit is also the closest one with clear, low-nutrient water, so the cleaner water costs no extra driving.

9 of the 40 lakes here have a public access point on the record, and the closest is Ore Lake, 1 hr 4 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 Detroit 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 Pleasant Lake in Oakland County, the closest lake to Detroit with the most favourable readings in range. 42 min from downtown.

Top-rated places to stay near Pleasant Lake

Prices for Oct 16–18, 4 adults. Change dates on the map below.

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