Butternut Lake vs Pickerel Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Butternut Lake and Pickerel Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of B (Good). Both are in Forest County, Wisconsin.
Both Butternut Lake and Pickerel Lake sit in Wisconsin. 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. These two are within a letter of each other on the rubric — Butternut Lake (B) versus Pickerel 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.
Pickerel Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 10 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Butternut Lake | Pickerel Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | B (Good) | B (Good) |
| Water Clarity | 19.5 ft | 10 ft |
| Phosphorus | 12.1 µg/L | 20.4 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 42 ft | 19 ft |
| Surface Area | 1,246 acres | 1,272 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 4 | 4 |
| Trophic State | oligotrophic | mesotrophic |
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, Pickerel Lake: 10 ft) and what you want from the lake. Butternut Lake matches its peer on species count.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.