Butternut Lake vs Franklin Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Butternut Lake and Franklin Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of B (Good). 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 are within a letter of each other on the rubric — Butternut Lake (B) versus Franklin Lake (B). 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | B (Good) | B (Good) |
| Water Clarity | 19.5 ft | 16 ft |
| Phosphorus | 12.1 µg/L | 11.3 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 42 ft | 46 ft |
| Surface Area | 1,246 acres | 839 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 4 | 5 |
| 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 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.