Bad Medicine Lake vs Elbow Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Bad Medicine Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Elbow Lake. Both are in Becker County, Minnesota.
Both Bad Medicine Lake and Elbow 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: Bad Medicine Lake and Elbow 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.
Bad Medicine Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 25 ft down.
Elbow Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 12.1 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Bad Medicine Lake | Elbow Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 25 ft Better | 12.1 ft |
| Phosphorus | 6 µg/L Better | 14 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 1.6 µg/L Better | 4.8 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 84 ft Better | 76 ft |
| Surface Area | 803 acres | 995 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 13 | 17 Better |
| Trophic State | oligotrophic | 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
Bad Medicine Lake and Elbow Lake read the same on nutrients and algae overall. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Bad Medicine Lake: 25 ft, Elbow Lake: 12.1 ft) and what you want from the lake. Bad Medicine Lake has fewer fish species than Elbow Lake.
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Where to stay near Bad Medicine Lake and Elbow Lake
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Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.