13 graded lakes within 4 hr of downtown
Driving from Pittsburgh to a lake worth swimming in
Salem Reservoir is the closest graded water to Pittsburgh, 1 hr 38 min away, and it grades D. Powers Reservoir grades B and takes 3 hr 43 min — 2 hr 5 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
13 lakes, sorted by drive time from downtown Pittsburgh. Letters in range: 1 B, 2 C, 4 D, 6 F. Some of the best water is over a state line — this list crosses into Ohio. The furthest entry is O'Shaughnessy Reservoir Lake at 4 hr.
| Drive | Lake | Grade | Road miles | County | Size | Access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 hr 38 min | Salem Reservoir | D | 64.3 | Columbiana County, OH | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 1 hr 46 min | Spring Valley Lake Lake | F | 68.5 | Columbiana County, OH | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 3 hr 13 min | Somerset Reservoir | F | 151.4 | Perry County, OH | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 3 hr 15 min | New Lexington Reservoir | C | 151.9 | Perry County, OH | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 3 hr 17 min | St Joseph Lake | F | 153.4 | Perry County, OH | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 3 hr 33 min | Burr Oak Reservoir | D | 162.6 | Morgan County, OH | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 3 hr 43 min | Powers Reservoir | B | 187.7 | Crawford County, OH | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 44 min | Amicks Reservoir | F | 188.7 | Morrow County, OH | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 3 hr 44 min | Amann Reservoir | D | 189.1 | Morrow County, OH | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 50 min | Lake Logan | D | 174.3 | Hocking County, OH | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 51 min | Hoover Reservoir | F | 187.1 | Delaware County, OH | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 53 min | Fremont Reservoir | C | 206.1 | Sandusky County, OH | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 4 hr | O'Shaughnessy Reservoir Lake | F | 201.6 | Delaware County, OH | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
What the numbers are, and are not
Drive times and road miles are one-way road routing from downtown Pittsburgh 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 Pittsburgh
Nearby cities
Common questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Powers Reservoir in Crawford County, Ohio. It grades B and the drive is 3 hr 43 min, or 187.7 road miles. The closest graded lake of any kind is Salem Reservoir at 1 hr 38 min, and it grades D.
2 hr 5 min each way. Salem Reservoir is 1 hr 38 min out and grades D; Powers Reservoir is 3 hr 43 min out and grades B.
6 of the 13 lakes here have a public access point on the record, and the closest is Salem Reservoir, 1 hr 38 min away, grading D. 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 Pittsburgh 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 Powers Reservoir in Crawford County — the closest lake to Pittsburgh that grades B. 3 hr 43 min from downtown.
Top-rated places to stay near Powers Reservoir
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