Ames Lake vs Sand Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Ames Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Sand Lake. Both are in Itasca County, Minnesota.
Both Ames Lake and Sand Lake sit in Minnesota. A same-state comparison strips out the state-level water-quality regime as a variable: any differences in the readings here are about the lakes themselves, not the agencies sampling them. The readings are close: Ames Lake and Sand Lake sit within a narrow band of each other on phosphorus, chlorophyll-a and clarity. The per-parameter table below shows where the small differences actually live.
With readings this close, the choice between the two lakes turns on non-water-quality factors: depth, fish species, public access, distance from home. The per-lake pages below cover all of those.
Ames Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 10 ft.
Sand Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 13.2 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Ames Lake | Sand Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 10 ft | 13.2 ft Better |
| Phosphorus | 15 µg/L Better | 18 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 2.3 µg/L Better | 3.1 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 51 ft | 60 ft Better |
| Surface Area | 564 acres | 715 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 13 Better | 0 |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | mesotrophic |
A green ✓ marks the better value for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better). Surface area and trophic state carry no tick — a bigger lake is not a better lake.
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Verdict
Ames Lake and Sand Lake read the same on nutrients and algae overall. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Ames Lake: 10 ft, Sand Lake: 13.2 ft) and what you want from the lake. Ames Lake supports more documented fish species.
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Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.