Alice Lake vs Pelican Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Pelican Lake has a higher water quality grade (A, Excellent) than Alice Lake (F, Very Poor). Both are in Otter Tail County, Minnesota.
Both Alice Lake and Pelican Lake sit in Minnesota. A same-state comparison strips out the state-level water-quality regime as a variable: any grade differences here are about the lakes themselves, not the agencies grading them. The grades are meaningfully apart: Pelican Lake grades a A while Alice Lake grades a F. That two-letter spread reflects real underlying differences — different watershed inputs, different depth profiles, or different monitoring rigor.
For a recreational visitor, the wider grade gap is decisive — Pelican Lake is the better water-quality choice. For a researcher, the gap is the interesting part: what is different about the two watersheds, and which of those differences is mutable?
Alice Lake
Very murky, less than 0.5 ft of visibility.
Pelican Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 16.1 ft down.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Alice Lake | Pelican Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | F (Very Poor) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | 0.5 ft | 16.1 ft |
| Phosphorus | No data | 15 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | - | - |
| Surface Area | 15 acres | 4.0K acres |
| Public Access | Unknown | Unknown |
| Fish Species | 0 | 1 |
| Trophic State | hypereutrophic | mesotrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Pelican Lake wins on overall water quality with a Grade A versus Alice Lake's Grade F. Water clarity: 16.1 ft vs 0.5 ft. For fishing diversity, Pelican Lake also leads with 1 species.