The traditional one-terminal impedance-based fault location algorithm using R-L model is simple and reliable. But the algorithm requires the source impedance data of the remote terminal system in advance in order to avoid the influence of the transition resistance. When the operating condition of the remote terminal system varies， the accuracy of the algorithm suffers. To address the disadvantage of the traditional algorithm， a new one-terminal ground fault location algorithm based on single-pole reclosure technique is proposed. The algorithm uses local terminal electrical quantities obtained when the faulted transmission line is waiting for the single-pole reclosure to calculate the zero sequence source impedance of the remote terminal system， which improves the accuracy of fault location for single-phase to ground faults. The new algorithm removes the adverse influence of the unknown source impedance of the remote terminal system in theory. It only utilizes local terminal electrical quantities and eliminates the need of communication channels. Hence it can be easily applied on present fault location devices. Theoretical analysis and EMTP simulation results demonstrate that the new fault location algorithm has good performance under various conditions.