Blue Lake vs Emily Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Blue Lake has a higher water quality grade (A, Excellent) than Emily Lake (D, Poor). Both are in Crow Wing County, Minnesota.
Both Blue Lake and Emily 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 meaningfully apart: Blue Lake grades a A while Emily Lake grades a D. That two-letter spread reflects real underlying differences — different watershed inputs, different depth profiles, or different monitoring rigor.
For a recreational visitor, the wider grade gap is decisive — Blue Lake is the better water-quality choice. For a researcher, the gap is the interesting part: what is different about the two watersheds, and which of those differences is mutable?
Blue Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 19 ft down.
Emily Lake
Very murky, less than 3 ft of visibility.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Blue Lake | Emily Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | A (Excellent) | D (Poor) |
| Water Clarity | 19 ft | 3 ft |
| Phosphorus | No data | 53 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | - | - |
| Surface Area | 1.5K acres | 694 acres |
| Public Access | Unknown | Unknown |
| Fish Species | 0 | 1 |
| Trophic State | oligotrophic | eutrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Blue Lake wins on overall water quality with a Grade A versus Emily Lake's Grade D. Water clarity: 19 ft vs 3 ft. For more fish-species variety, Emily Lake edges ahead with 1 documented species.