There’s nothing quite like enjoying the recreational possibilities offered at many lakes as you travel. Most RVers relish the thought of a lakeside campsite. They also think of spending some time on the water, either fishing or exploring in a canoe or kayak. Here's a guide to the 10 clearest and cleanest lakes in the United States. Use it to plan your next water adventure!
According to the National Lakes Assessment, there are 111,819 lakes in the United States. Of that number, more than half (58,700) are natural lakes. The rest are man-made reservoirs. The natural lakes are split pretty evenly between small and large lakes. Meanwhile, the man-made ones are almost all considered small reservoirs.
Even though Minnesota’s claim as the Land of 10,000 lakes sounds impressive, it’s not the winner of “The State with the Most Lakes” contest. That title is held by our largest state, Alaska, with 3,197 naturally formed lakes. And that number doesn’t include the more than 3 million unnamed lakes in the Last Frontier.
Since we know that America abounds with naturally occurring bodies of water, let’s look at lakes with the cleanest, clearest water in the country. #1 Crater Lake, Oregon