Bardon Lake vs Saint Croix Flowage Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Saint Croix Flowage Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Bardon Lake. Both are in Douglas County, Wisconsin.
Both Bardon Lake and Saint Croix Flowage Lake sit in Wisconsin. 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: Bardon Lake and Saint Croix Flowage 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.
Bardon Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 27 ft down.
Saint Croix Flowage Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 10.5 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Bardon Lake | Saint Croix Flowage Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 27 ft Better | 10.5 ft |
| Phosphorus | 30 µg/L | 23.8 µg/L Better |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 102 ft | - |
| Surface Area | 848 acres | 1,913 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 5 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
Saint Croix Flowage Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Bardon Lake. Water clarity: 10.5 ft vs 27 ft. For more fish-species variety, Bardon Lake edges ahead with 5 documented species.
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Where to stay near Bardon Lake and Saint Croix Flowage Lake
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Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.