Bearskin Lake vs Hungry Jack Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Bearskin Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Hungry Jack Lake. Both are in Cook County, Minnesota.
Both Bearskin Lake and Hungry Jack 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. The readings are close: Bearskin Lake and Hungry Jack 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.
Bearskin Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 21 ft down.
Hungry Jack Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 18 ft down.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Bearskin Lake | Hungry Jack Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 21 ft Better | 18 ft |
| Phosphorus | 6 µg/L Better | 7 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 1.3 µg/L Better | 2 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 78 ft Better | 71 ft |
| Surface Area | 509 acres | 474 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 9 | 9 |
| Trophic State | oligotrophic | 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.
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Verdict
Bearskin Lake and Hungry Jack Lake read the same on nutrients and algae overall. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Bearskin Lake: 21 ft, Hungry Jack Lake: 18 ft) and what you want from the lake. Bearskin Lake matches its peer on species count.
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Where to stay near Bearskin Lake and Hungry Jack Lake
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Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.