Ballard Lake vs White Sand Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Ballard Lake and White Sand Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of A (Excellent). Both are in Vilas County, Wisconsin.
Both Ballard Lake and White Sand Lake sit in Wisconsin. 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. These two are within a letter of each other on the rubric — Ballard Lake (A) versus White Sand Lake (A). The deciding factors for a recreational visitor are likely physical (depth, access, fish species) rather than water-quality differences.
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.
Ballard Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 15 ft down.
White Sand Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 20 ft down.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Ballard Lake | White Sand Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | A (Excellent) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | 15 ft | 20 ft |
| Phosphorus | 15.5 µg/L | No data |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 25 ft | 71 ft |
| Surface Area | 503 acres | 746 acres |
| Public Access | Unknown | Unknown |
| Fish Species | 0 | 0 |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | oligotrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade A. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Ballard Lake: 15 ft, White Sand Lake: 20 ft) and what you want from the lake. Ballard Lake matches its peer on species count.