Big Rice Lake vs Sand Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Big Rice Lake has a higher water quality grade (B, Good) than Sand Lake (C, Fair). Both are in St. Louis County, Minnesota.
Big Rice Lake and Sand 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 grades are close: Big Rice Lake (B) and Sand Lake (C) 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 Rice Lake
No clarity data.
Sand Lake
Moderate clarity, visible to about 9 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Big Rice Lake | Sand Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | B (Good) | C (Fair) |
| Water Clarity | No data | 9 ft |
| Phosphorus | 25 µg/L | No data |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 5 ft | 15 ft |
| Surface Area | 1.9K acres | 778.78 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | No |
| Fish Species | 0 | 1 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | mesotrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Big Rice Lake wins on overall water quality with a Grade B versus Sand Lake's Grade C. For more fish-species variety, Sand Lake edges ahead with 1 documented species.