Bardon Lake vs Saint Croix Flowage Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Saint Croix Flowage Lake has a higher water quality grade (B, Good) than Bardon Lake (C, Fair). 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 grade differences here are about the lakes themselves, not the agencies grading them. The grades are close: Bardon Lake (C) and Saint Croix Flowage Lake (B) 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | C (Fair) | B (Good) |
| Water Clarity | 27 ft | 10.5 ft |
| Phosphorus | 30 µg/L | 23.8 µg/L |
| 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 | 0 |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | mesotrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Saint Croix Flowage Lake wins on overall water quality with a Grade B versus Bardon Lake's Grade C. Water clarity: 10.5 ft vs 27 ft. For more fish-species variety, Bardon Lake edges ahead with 5 documented species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.