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LakeQuality

Bowstring Lake vs Sand Lake

Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.

Sand Lake has a higher water quality grade (A, Excellent) than Bowstring Lake (C, Fair). Both are in Itasca County, Minnesota.

C

Bowstring Lake

Itasca County, Minnesota

Moderate clarity, visible to about 8 ft.

A

Sand Lake

Itasca County, Minnesota

Good clarity, visible to about 13 ft.

Side-by-Side Metrics

MetricBowstring LakeSand Lake
Overall GradeC (Fair)A (Excellent)
Water Clarity8 ft13 ft
Phosphorus32 µg/L18 µg/L
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)No dataNo data
Maximum Depth32 ft60 ft
Surface Area9.5K acres714.55 acres
Public AccessYesNo
Fish Species170
Trophic Stateeutrophicmesotrophic

Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).

Verdict

Sand Lake wins on overall water quality with a Grade A versus Bowstring Lake's Grade C. Water clarity: 13 ft vs 8 ft. For more fish-species variety, Bowstring Lake edges ahead with 17 documented species.