3 graded lakes within 4 hr of downtown
Driving from Seattle to a lake worth swimming in
Weallup Lake is the closest graded water to Seattle, 1 hr 8 min away, and it grades C. Moses Lake grades B and takes 3 hr 23 min — 2 hr 15 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
3 lakes, sorted by drive time from downtown Seattle. Letters in range: 1 B, 2 C. The furthest entry is Moses Lake at 3 hr 23 min.
| Drive | Lake | Grade | Road miles | County | Size | Access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 hr 8 min | Weallup Lake | C | 45 | Snohomish County, WA | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 3 hr 8 min | Rimrock Reservoir | C | 123.6 | Yakima County, WA | 2,525 ac | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 23 min | Moses Lake | B | 175.7 | Grant County, WA | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
What the numbers are, and are not
Drive times and road miles are one-way road routing from downtown Seattle 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 Seattle
Nearby cities
Common questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Moses Lake in Grant County, Washington. It grades B and the drive is 3 hr 23 min, or 175.7 road miles. The closest graded lake of any kind is Weallup Lake at 1 hr 8 min, and it grades C.
2 hr 15 min each way. Weallup Lake is 1 hr 8 min out and grades C; Moses Lake is 3 hr 23 min out and grades B.
2 of the 3 lakes here have a public access point on the record, and the closest is Rimrock Reservoir, 3 hr 8 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 Seattle 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 Moses Lake in Grant County — the closest lake to Seattle that grades B. 3 hr 23 min from downtown.
Top-rated places to stay near Moses Lake
Availability and prices from Stay22 partners (Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia). We may earn a commission from bookings, at no extra cost to you.
Planning a trip to Moses Lake?
Get lake water-quality report cards plus the best cabin & lodging deals near Moses Lake — straight to your inbox. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.