Big Sugar Bush Lake vs Strawberry Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Big Sugar Bush Lake and Strawberry Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of A (Excellent). Both are in Becker County, Minnesota.
Big Sugar Bush Lake and Strawberry 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. These two are within a letter of each other on the rubric — Big Sugar Bush Lake (A) versus Strawberry Lake (A). 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.
Big Sugar Bush Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 16.5 ft down.
Strawberry Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 17.5 ft down.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Big Sugar Bush Lake | Strawberry Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | A (Excellent) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | 16.5 ft | 17.5 ft |
| Phosphorus | 10 µg/L | 7.5 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 2.7 µg/L | 1.3 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 42 ft | 40 ft |
| Surface Area | 522 acres | 1,498 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 13 | 16 |
| Trophic State | oligotrophic | oligotrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade A. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Big Sugar Bush Lake: 16.5 ft, Strawberry Lake: 17.5 ft) and what you want from the lake. Big Sugar Bush Lake has fewer fish species than Strawberry Lake.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.