40 graded lakes within 4 hr of downtown
Driving from Philadelphia to a lake worth swimming in
Newton Lake is the closest graded water to Philadelphia, 14 min away, and it grades F. Grenloch Lake grades A and takes 24 min — 10 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 Philadelphia. Letters in range: 12 A, 5 B, 10 C, 6 D, 7 F. Some of the best water is over a state line — this list crosses into New Jersey. The furthest entry is Irisado Lake at 1 hr 30 min.
| Drive | Lake | Grade | Road miles | County | Size | Access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 min | Newton Lake | F | 6.8 | Camden County, NJ | 104 ac | Not recorded |
| 21 min | Almonesson Lake | D | 13.4 | Gloucester County, NJ | 18 ac | Not recorded |
| 24 min | Grenloch Lake | A | 15.5 | Gloucester County, NJ | 21 ac | Not recorded |
| 35 min | Timber Lake | C | 20.4 | Burlington County, NJ | 24 ac | Not recorded |
| 38 min | Smithville Dock Lake | D | 24.2 | Burlington County, NJ | 37 ac | Not recorded |
| 43 min | Elmer Lake | D | 31.3 | Salem County, NJ | 36 ac | Not recorded |
| 44 min | Indian Mills Lake | C | 26.7 | Burlington County, NJ | 40 ac | Not recorded |
| 44 min | Ancora Pond | C | 31.4 | Camden County, NJ | 5 ac | Not recorded |
| 44 min | Malaga Lake | D | 33.1 | Gloucester County, NJ | 100 ac | Not recorded |
| 48 min | Evans Pond | D | 35.5 | Salem County, NJ | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 51 min | Hammonton Lake | C | 36.5 | Atlantic County, NJ | 71 ac | Not recorded |
| 51 min | Gropp Lake | C | 38.7 | Mercer County, NJ | 41 ac | ✓ Public |
| 55 min | Big Pine Lake | D | 34.3 | Burlington County, NJ | 40 ac | Not recorded |
| 56 min | Eagle Lake | F | 33.9 | Burlington County, NJ | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 58 min | Country Lake | F | 35.8 | Burlington County, NJ | 15 ac | Not recorded |
| 58 min | Mt. Misery Lake | A | 36.6 | Burlington County, NJ | 12 ac | Not recorded |
| 59 min | Unl Lake | C | 39.3 | Burlington County, NJ | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 59 min | Curlis Lake | F | 39.6 | Mercer County, NJ | 18 ac | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 2 min | Pancoast Mill Pond | C | 43.3 | Atlantic County, NJ | 45 ac | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 2 min | Etra Lake | F | 47.4 | Mercer County, NJ | 21 ac | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 3 min | Sunset Lake | F | 42.8 | Cumberland County, NJ | 94 ac | ✓ Public |
| 1 hr 4 min | Meadow Lakes | B | 48.3 | Mercer County, NJ | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 7 min | Carnegie Lake | F | 45.3 | Mercer County, NJ | 245 ac | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 8 min | Lake Lenape | A | 48.9 | Atlantic County, NJ | 300 ac | ✓ Public |
| 1 hr 10 min | Lee Bros Pond | B | 44.2 | Burlington County, NJ | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 12 min | Stephen Lake | A | 50.5 | Atlantic County, NJ | 40 ac | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 14 min | Shaws Mill Pond | C | 54.4 | Cumberland County, NJ | 28 ac | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 15 min | Hands Mill Pond | A | 58.7 | Cumberland County, NJ | 25 ac | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 16 min | Bargaintown Pond | B | 57.9 | Atlantic County, NJ | 46 ac | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 18 min | Wells Mills Reservoir | A | 52 | Ocean County, NJ | 22 ac | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 19 min | Mill Pond | A | 56.6 | Atlantic County, NJ | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 1 hr 19 min | East Brunswick Community Park Lake | A | 58.8 | Middlesex County, NJ | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 22 min | Lake Topanemus | B | 59.6 | Monmouth County, NJ | 22 ac | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 23 min | Holiday Lake | B | 54.7 | Ocean County, NJ | 39 ac | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 24 min | Unl Lake | A | 67.4 | Cape May County, NJ | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 1 hr 25 min | Oswego Lake | A | 51.2 | Burlington County, NJ | 89 ac | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 25 min | Duhernal Lake | C | 61.1 | Middlesex County, NJ | 195 ac | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 29 min | Pohatcong Lake | A | 60.1 | Ocean County, NJ | 37 ac | ✓ Public |
| 1 hr 30 min | Holiday City Lake | A | 59.5 | Ocean County, NJ | 25 ac | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 30 min | Irisado Lake | C | 60.1 | Ocean County, NJ | 43 ac | Not recorded |
What the numbers are, and are not
Drive times and road miles are one-way road routing from downtown Philadelphia 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 Philadelphia
Nearby cities
Common questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Grenloch Lake in Gloucester County, New Jersey. It grades A and the drive is 24 min, or 15.5 road miles. The closest graded lake of any kind is Newton Lake at 14 min, and it grades F.
10 min each way. Newton Lake is 14 min out and grades F; Grenloch Lake is 24 min out and grades A.
6 of the 40 lakes here have a public access point on the record, and the closest is Gropp Lake, 51 min away, grading C. 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 Philadelphia 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 Grenloch Lake in Gloucester County — the closest lake to Philadelphia that grades A. 24 min from downtown.
Top-rated places to stay near Grenloch Lake
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