Ash Lake vs Kabetogama Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Ash Lake and Kabetogama Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of D (Poor). Both are in St. Louis County, Minnesota.
Ash Lake and Kabetogama Lake are both in Minnesota — a same-state head-to-head where the comparison comes down to lake-specific differences in depth, watershed, and monitoring history rather than the broader state-level water-quality regime. The grades are close: Ash Lake (D) and Kabetogama Lake (D) are within one letter of each other on the LakeGrade rubric. The per-parameter sub-grades below will show where the small differences actually live.
With grades 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.
Ash Lake
Murky, only visible to about 5.5 ft.
Kabetogama Lake
Murky, only visible to about 3.8 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Ash Lake | Kabetogama Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | D (Poor) | D (Poor) |
| Water Clarity | 5.5 ft | 3.8 ft |
| Phosphorus | No data | No data |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 25 ft | 80 ft |
| Surface Area | 689.62 acres | 24.0K acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 9 | 16 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | eutrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade D. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Ash Lake: 5.5 ft, Kabetogama Lake: 3.8 ft) and what you want from the lake. Ash Lake has fewer fish species than Kabetogama Lake.