Butternut Lake vs Franklin Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Butternut Lake and Franklin Lake read the same on nutrients and algae. Both are in Forest County, Wisconsin.
Butternut Lake and Franklin Lake are both in Wisconsin — 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 sit close on the readings, Butternut Lake versus Franklin Lake. The deciding factors for a recreational visitor are likely physical (depth, access, fish species) rather than water-quality differences.
With readings 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.
Butternut Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 19.5 ft down.
Franklin Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 16 ft down.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Butternut Lake | Franklin Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 19.5 ft Better | 16 ft |
| Phosphorus | 12.1 µg/L | 11.3 µg/L Better |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 42 ft | 46 ft Better |
| Surface Area | 1,246 acres | 839 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 4 | 5 Better |
| Trophic State | oligotrophic | oligotrophic |
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 Butternut Lake or Franklin Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade B. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Butternut Lake: 19.5 ft, Franklin Lake: 16 ft) and what you want from the lake. Butternut Lake has fewer fish species than Franklin Lake.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.