Big Lake vs Burntside Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Big Lake and Burntside Lake read the same on nutrients and algae. Both are in St. Louis County, Minnesota.
Big Lake and Burntside Lake are both in Minnesota — a same-state head-to-head where the comparison comes down to lake-specific differences in depth, watershed, and monitoring history rather than the broader state-level water-quality regime. The readings are close: Big Lake and Burntside 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.
Big Lake
Moderate clarity, visible to about 8.2 ft.
Burntside Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 16 ft down.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Big Lake | Burntside Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 8.2 ft | 16 ft Better |
| Phosphorus | 14 µg/L | 7 µg/L Better |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 4.9 µg/L | 2 µg/L Better |
| Maximum Depth | 22 ft | 126 ft Better |
| Surface Area | 1,904 acres | 7,314 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 8 | 15 Better |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | 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.
Swap a lake
Compare Big Lake or Burntside Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade A. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Big Lake: 8.2 ft, Burntside Lake: 16 ft) and what you want from the lake. Big Lake has fewer fish species than Burntside Lake.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.