Bear Lake vs Beaver Dam Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Bear Lake and Beaver Dam Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of B (Good). Both are in Barron County, Wisconsin.
Both Bear Lake and Beaver Dam 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 — Bear Lake (B) versus Beaver Dam Lake (B). 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.
Bear Lake
Murky, only visible to about 6.2 ft.
Beaver Dam Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 11 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Bear Lake | Beaver Dam Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | B (Good) | B (Good) |
| Water Clarity | 6.2 ft | 11 ft Better |
| Phosphorus | 18 µg/L | 12.9 µg/L Better |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 87 ft | 106 ft Better |
| Surface Area | 1,348 acres | 1,163 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 5 | 6 Better |
| 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.
Swap a lake
Compare Bear Lake or Beaver Dam Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade B. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Bear Lake: 6.2 ft, Beaver Dam Lake: 11 ft) and what you want from the lake. Bear Lake has fewer fish species than Beaver Dam Lake.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.