What is the difference between Big Carnelian Lake and White Bear Lake?

Big Carnelian Lake (Washington County) holds Grade A with 14.5 ft clarity and 66 ft max depth. White Bear Lake (Washington County) holds Grade A with 14.4 ft clarity and 83 ft max depth.

Is Big Carnelian Lake or White Bear Lake better for fishing?

Big Carnelian Lake has 12 documented fish species. White Bear Lake has 18. The lake with more species and better water clarity (Secchi depth) generally supports more diverse and successful fishing.

Big Carnelian Lake vs White Bear Lake

Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.

Big Carnelian Lake and White Bear Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of A (Excellent). Both are in Washington County, Minnesota.

Reviewed by LakeQuality Editorial Team · Updated Aug 2, 2026

Both Big Carnelian Lake and White Bear Lake sit in Minnesota. 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: Big Carnelian Lake (A) and White Bear Lake (A) 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.

Big Carnelian Lake

Washington County, Minnesota

Good clarity, visible to about 14.5 ft.

White Bear Lake

Washington County, Minnesota

Good clarity, visible to about 14.4 ft.

Stay near Big Carnelian Lake →Swap a lake

Side-by-Side Metrics

Metric	Big Carnelian Lake	White Bear Lake
Overall Grade	A (Excellent)	A (Excellent)
Water Clarity	14.5 ft Better	14.4 ft
Phosphorus	12 µg/L Better	15 µg/L
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)	3.4 µg/L	2.7 µg/L Better
Maximum Depth	66 ft	83 ft Better
Surface Area	457 acres	2,428 acres
Public Access	Yes	Yes
Fish Species	12	18 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 Big Carnelian Lake or White Bear Lake against a different lake.

Pool of Lake St Croix vs White Bear Lake Pool vs White Bear Lake Forest Lake vs White Bear Lake Long Lake vs White Bear Lake Unnamed Lake vs White Bear Lake

Verdict

Both lakes earn the same Grade A. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Big Carnelian Lake: 14.5 ft, White Bear Lake: 14.4 ft) and what you want from the lake. Big Carnelian Lake has fewer fish species than White Bear Lake.

Full Big Carnelian Lake report →Full White Bear Lake report →All Washington County lakes →Cleanest lakes in Minnesota →

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.