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Clearwater Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Camp Lake. Both are in Crow Wing County, Minnesota.

Reviewed by LakeQuality Editorial Team · Updated

Camp Lake and Clearwater Lake are both in Minnesota — 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. Clearwater Lake reads materially cleaner than Camp Lake on nutrients and algae. A gap that wide is unlikely to close in a single year of remediation work; it reflects multi-decade differences in the lakes themselves.

For a recreational visitor, the wider gap in the readings is decisive: Clearwater Lake has the lower nutrient and algae numbers. For a researcher, the gap is the interesting part: what is different about the two watersheds, and which of those differences is mutable?

Camp Lake

Crow Wing County, Minnesota

Moderate clarity, visible to about 8.3 ft.

Clearwater Lake

Crow Wing County, Minnesota

Good clarity, visible to about 13 ft.

Side-by-Side Metrics

MetricCamp LakeClearwater Lake
Water Clarity8.3 ft13 ft Better
Phosphorus19.5 µg/L12 µg/L Better
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)10.4 µg/L3.7 µg/L Better
Maximum Depth42 ft54 ft Better
Surface Area534 acres905 acres
Public AccessYesYes
Fish Species1216 Better
Trophic Statemesotrophicmesotrophic

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.

Verdict

Clearwater Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Camp Lake. Water clarity: 13 ft vs 8.3 ft. For fishing diversity, Clearwater Lake also leads with 16 species.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.