What are oligotrophic lakes in Missouri?

17 oligotrophic lakes in Missouri. Low nutrients, clear water, excellent for swimming.

What does oligotrophic mean?

Low nutrients, clear water, excellent for swimming.

Oligotrophic Lakes in Missouri

An oligotrophic lake is what most people picture when they think of pristine northern lake country: clarity to depth, no algal scum, cold water that holds dissolved oxygen all the way to the bottom even in August. Across Missouri, 17 lakes register as oligotrophic — 0% of them break 50 feet of depth, which is the structural condition that underwrites the trophic class. Without depth and a low-nutrient watershed, oligotrophy is hard to sustain.

Oligotrophic lakes almost always carry the lowest phosphorus and chlorophyll-a readings on record, since the same low-nutrient conditions produce both the trophic class and the clear water.

#	Lake	County	Clarity	Depth	TSI
1	Lake Taneycomo @ Rockaway Beach	Taney	8.7 ft	-	40
2	Lake Shayne-Terre du Lac Lakes	Washington	11.1 ft	-	34
3	Lake Konstanz	Warren	7.7 ft	-	38
4	Lake Capri	St. Francois	16.3 ft	-	32
5	Council Bluff Lake	Iron	13.1 ft	-	34
6	Lake Taneycomo	Taney	8.9 ft	-	41
7	Lake Taneycomo	Taney	12.6 ft	-	38
8	Lake Wauwanoka	Jefferson	12.9 ft	-	37
9	Alpine Lake	Warren	12.6 ft	-	36
10	Timberline Lakes	St. Francois	14.3 ft	-	34
11	Lake Taneycomo Ab. Bee Cr. Arm	Taney	13.3 ft	-	37
12	Fourche Creek Lake	Ripley	13.6 ft	-	36
13	Lake Nehai Tonkayea	Chariton	8 ft	-	39
14	Goose Creek Lake	Ste. Genevieve	9.9 ft	-	39
15	Oasis Ranch Upper Lake	Audrain	14.4 ft	-	38
16	Oasis Ranch Lake	Audrain	14.1 ft	-	34
17	Lake Taneycomo @ Shepherd of the Hills Fh	Taney	-	-	41

All oligotrophic lakes →Minnesota version →Wisconsin version →Illinois version →Michigan version →Iowa version →Ohio version →Pennsylvania version →New York version →Indiana version →North Dakota version →South Dakota version →Florida version →Colorado version →North Carolina version →Vermont version →Texas version →Oregon version →Arkansas version →Oklahoma version →Kansas version →Nebraska version →Nevada version →Arizona version →Idaho version →Montana version →New Mexico version →Tennessee version →Alabama version →Virginia version →Kentucky version →Utah version →Washington version →Wyoming version →Georgia version →Massachusetts version →Ontario version →Québec version →Nova Scotia version →British Columbia version →Newfoundland and Labrador version →All Missouri lakes →

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.