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

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

Driving from Oklahoma City to a lake worth swimming in

Wes Watkins Reservoir is the closest lake with water-quality readings to Oklahoma City, 38 min away. Bois D'Arc Lake has clear, low-nutrient readings and takes 3 hr 56 min, 3 hr 18 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.

Closest water
38 min
25.8 road miles · Pottawatomie County, OK
The shortest drive on this page.
Closest clear, low-nutrient water
3 hr 56 min
204.9 road miles · Fannin County, TX
3 hr 18 min further than the closest lake.
Closest public access
38 min
25.8 road miles · Pottawatomie County, OK
A boat landing or launch point is on the record for this lake.

Closer, or cleaner — the whole ladder

37 lakes, sorted by drive time from downtown Oklahoma City. 1 of them have clear, low-nutrient readings. Some of the best water is over a state line — this list crosses into Kansas, Texas, Arkansas. The furthest entry is Lake Fort Smith at 4 hr.

DriveLakeRoad milesCountySizeAccess
38 minWes Watkins Reservoir25.8Pottawatomie County, OK1,142 ac✓ Public
41 minLake Thunderbird27.9Cleveland County, OK6,070 ac✓ Public
43 minThunderbird Lake Hog Creek29.3Cleveland County, OKNot recorded✓ Public
51 minThunderbird Lake Fisherman'S34.3Cleveland County, OKNot recorded✓ Public
1 hr 24 minFt. Cobb Lake64.4Caddo County, OK13 acNot recorded
1 hr 36 minSportsman Lake65Seminole County, OK590 acNot recorded
1 hr 39 minWewoka Lake73.2Seminole County, OK371 acNot recorded
1 hr 42 minLake Konawa73.7Seminole County, OK1,350 acNot recorded
2 hr 10 minSandy Beach Lake116.9Osage County, OK16,750 ac✓ Public
2 hr 18 minOsage Cove Lake118.5Osage County, OKNot recorded✓ Public
2 hr 19 minCoon Creek Lake119.7Kay County, OKNot recordedNot recorded
2 hr 22 minSarge Creek Lake123.8Kay County, OKNot recorded✓ Public
2 hr 24 minPioneer Cover Lake122.9Osage County, OKNot recorded✓ Public
2 hr 41 minWashunga Bay Lake130.9Kay County, OKNot recorded✓ Public
2 hr 41 minLake Texoma137.9Marshall County, OKNot recorded✓ Public
2 hr 44 minWellington New City Lake135.5Sumner County, KS675 acNot recorded
2 hr 50 minGreenleaf Lake152.6Muskogee County, OK739 ac✓ Public
2 hr 55 minRay Roberts Lake157.5Cooke County, TX29,350 ac✓ Public
3 hr 6 minAugusta Santa Fe Lake172.9Butler County, KSNot recordedNot recorded
3 hr 10 minAugusta City Lake175.8Butler County, KS181 acNot recorded
3 hr 11 minCopan Lake164.6Washington County, OK4,850 ac✓ Public
3 hr 14 minLake Afton173.8Sedgwick County, KS238 acNot recorded
3 hr 17 minLake Amon G Carter159.3Montague County, TX1,540 ac✓ Public
3 hr 19 minLake Texoma175.7Grayson County, OKNot recorded✓ Public
3 hr 22 minAnthony City Lake150.8Harper County, KS130 acNot recorded
3 hr 24 minEl Dorado Lake187.8Butler County, KS8,400 ac✓ Public
3 hr 34 minSiloam Springs Lake193.6Benton County, ARNot recordedNot recorded
3 hr 37 minLake Sardis Clayton181.1Pushmataha County, OKNot recorded✓ Public
3 hr 40 minLake Nahni Waiya Tuskahomma176.4Pushmataha County, OK131 ac✓ Public
3 hr 44 minHarvey Co West Park Lake200.1Harvey County, KSNot recordedNot recorded
3 hr 49 minCrystal Lake204.8Benton County, AR42 acNot recorded
3 hr 49 minPat Mayse Reservoir214Lamar County, TX5,993 ac✓ Public
3 hr 54 minUpper Pat Mayse Reservoir216Lamar County, TXNot recorded✓ Public
3 hr 56 minBois D'Arc Lake204.9Fannin County, TX16,500 acNot recorded
3 hr 56 minLake Crook Mid Lake220.7Lamar County, TXNot recorded✓ Public
3 hr 58 minLincoln Lake211.1Washington County, AR89 acNot recorded
4 hrLake Fort Smith215.9Crawford County, AR470 acNot recorded

What the numbers are, and are not

Drive times and road miles are one-way road routing from downtown Oklahoma City 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.

Common questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Bois D'Arc Lake in Fannin County, Texas. Its nutrient and algae readings are among the most favourable within reach, and the drive is 3 hr 56 min, or 204.9 road miles. The closest lake of any kind with readings on record is Wes Watkins Reservoir at 38 min.

3 hr 18 min each way. Wes Watkins Reservoir is 38 min out; Bois D'Arc Lake, with the more favourable readings, is 3 hr 56 min out.

21 of the 37 lakes here have a public access point on the record, and the closest is Wes Watkins Reservoir, 38 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 Oklahoma City 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 Bois D'Arc Lake in Fannin County, the closest lake to Oklahoma City with the most favourable readings in range. 3 hr 56 min from downtown.

Top-rated places to stay near Bois D'Arc Lake

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

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