Ball Club Lake vs Shallow Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Shallow Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Ball Club Lake. Both are in Itasca County, Minnesota.
Both Ball Club Lake and Shallow 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. These two sit close on the readings, Ball Club Lake versus Shallow Lake. The deciding factors for a recreational visitor are likely physical (depth, access, fish species) rather than water-quality differences.
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.
Ball Club Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 16 ft down.
Shallow Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 16.4 ft down.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Ball Club Lake | Shallow Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 16 ft | 16.4 ft Better |
| Phosphorus | 16.5 µg/L | 9 µg/L Better |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | 3.2 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 85 ft | 85 ft |
| Surface Area | 4,335 acres | 539 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 11 | 12 Better |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | oligotrophic |
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.
Swap a lake
Compare Ball Club Lake or Shallow Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Shallow Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Ball Club Lake. Water clarity: 16.4 ft vs 16 ft. For fishing diversity, Shallow Lake also leads with 12 species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.