Oligotrophic Lakes in New York

63 oligotrophic lakes in New York. Low nutrients, clear water, excellent for swimming.

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 New York, 63 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.

On the LakeGrade rubric, oligotrophic lakes almost always pull an A or B — the same low-nutrient conditions that produce the trophic class also produce the high grade.

#	Lake	County	Grade	Clarity	Depth	TSI
1	Blue Mtn Lake	Hamilton	A	21 ft	-	33
2	Brant Lake	Warren	A	16.4 ft	-	37
3	Loon Lake	Steuben	A	14.8 ft	-	38
4	Lake George	Warren	A	26.7 ft	-	30
5	Lake Placid	Essex	A	23.1 ft	-	32
6	Bradley Brook Reservoir	Madison	A	20.7 ft	-	33
7	Friends Lake	Warren	A	16.3 ft	-	37
8	Canandaigua Lake	Ontario	A	17.6 ft	-	36
9	Oquaga Lake	Broome	A	26.2 ft	-	30
10	Eagle Lake	Essex	A	24.3 ft	-	31
11	Glen Lake	Warren	A	16 ft	-	37
12	Lake Petonia	Chenango	A	20.2 ft	-	34
13	Deruyter Reservoir	Madison	A	17.6 ft	-	36
14	Main Section Lake	Essex	A	15.7 ft	-	40
15	Lake Sunnyside	Warren	A	17.8 ft	-	36
16	Chenango Lake	Chenango	A	16.6 ft	-	37
17	Anawanda Lake	Sullivan	A	18.4 ft	-	35
18	Keuka Lake	Yates	A	23.6 ft	-	32
19	Lincoln Pond	Essex	A	15.1 ft	-	38
20	Lake Bonaparte	Lewis	A	15.8 ft	-	37
21	Skaneateles Lake	Onondaga	A	27.4 ft	-	29
22	Mirror Lake	Essex	A	22.6 ft	-	32
23	Lake Luzerne	Warren	A	17.1 ft	-	36
24	Burden Lake	Rensselaer	A	14.8 ft	-	38
25	Lake Moraine	Madison	A	20.3 ft	-	34
26	Brant Lake	Warren	A	16.4 ft	-	37
27	China Pond	Putnam	A	15.2 ft	-	38
28	Silver Lake	St. Lawrence	A	15.1 ft	-	38
29	Indian Lake	Putnam	A	24.8 ft	-	31
30	Song Lake	Cortland	A	15.4 ft	-	38
31	Eaton Reservoir	Madison	A	18.2 ft	-	35
32	Somerset Lake	Delaware	A	15.1 ft	-	38
33	Canadice Lake	Ontario	A	18.8 ft	-	35
34	Tuscarora Lake	Madison	A	20.5 ft	-	34
35	Cazenovia Lake	Madison	A	16.7 ft	-	37
36	Millsite Lake	Jefferson	A	27.9 ft	-	29
37	Queechy Lake	Columbia	A	18.1 ft	-	35
38	South Lake	Herkimer	A	-	-	24
39	West Pond	Herkimer	A	-	-	37
40	Squash Pond	Herkimer	A	-	-	39
41	Windfall Pond	Herkimer	A	-	-	36
42	Hope Pond	Franklin	A	-	-	38
43	Loon Hollows Pond	Herkimer	A	-	-	27
44	Willys Lake	Herkimer	A	-	-	24
45	Sunday Pond	Franklin	A	-	-	38
46	Jockeybush Lake	Hamilton	A	-	-	32
47	Willis Lake	Hamilton	A	-	-	34
48	Owasco Lake Platform	Cayuga	A	11 ft	-	37
49	Seneca Lake Platform	Seneca	A	11.5 ft	-	37
50	Isle la Motte Lake	Clinton	A	15.4 ft	-	40
51	Friends Lake	Warren	B	13.8 ft	-	39
52	Schroon Lake	Essex	B	14.1 ft	-	39
53	East Caroga Lake	Fulton	B	13.6 ft	-	39
54	Cuba Lake	Allegany	B	14.6 ft	-	38
55	Hadlock Pond	Washington	B	14.6 ft	-	38
56	Hatch Lake	Madison	B	13.4 ft	-	40
57	Barrett Pond	Putnam	B	14.4 ft	-	39
58	Guilford Lake	Chenango	B	13.8 ft	-	39
59	Canada Lake	Fulton	B	13.8 ft	-	39
60	Warn Lake	Chenango	B	14.1 ft	-	39
61	Pleasant Lake	Fulton	B	13.4 ft	-	40
62	Montgomery Lake	Sullivan	B	13.9 ft	-	39
63	Lake Pleasant	Hamilton	B	13.9 ft	-	39

All oligotrophic lakes →Minnesota version →Wisconsin version →Illinois version →Michigan version →Iowa version →Ohio version →Pennsylvania version →Missouri version →Indiana version →North Dakota version →South Dakota version →All New York lakes →

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.