Big Swan Lake vs Minnie-Belle Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Minnie-Belle Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Big Swan Lake. Both are in Meeker County, Minnesota.
Both Big Swan Lake and Minnie-Belle 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. Minnie-Belle Lake reads materially cleaner than Big Swan Lake on nutrients and algae. A gap that wide is unlikely to close in a single year of remediation work; it reflects multi-decade differences in the lakes themselves.
For a recreational visitor, the wider gap in the readings is decisive: Minnie-Belle Lake has the lower nutrient and algae numbers. For a researcher, the gap is the interesting part: what is different about the two watersheds, and which of those differences is mutable?
Big Swan Lake
Very murky, less than 2.6 ft of visibility.
Minnie-Belle Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 14.4 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Big Swan Lake | Minnie-Belle Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 2.6 ft | 14.4 ft Better |
| Phosphorus | 86.5 µg/L | 14 µg/L Better |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 61.3 µg/L | 3.8 µg/L Better |
| Maximum Depth | 32 ft | 49 ft Better |
| Surface Area | 684 acres | 597 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 23 Better | 14 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | 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 Swan Lake or Minnie-Belle Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Minnie-Belle Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Big Swan Lake. Water clarity: 14.4 ft vs 2.6 ft. For more fish-species variety, Big Swan Lake edges ahead with 23 documented species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.