Cedar Lake vs Wells Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Cedar Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Wells Lake. Both are in Rice County, Minnesota.
Both Cedar Lake and Wells Lake sit in Minnesota. A same-state comparison strips out the state-level water-quality regime as a variable: any differences in the readings here are about the lakes themselves, not the agencies sampling them. The readings are close: Cedar Lake and Wells Lake sit within a narrow band of each other on phosphorus, chlorophyll-a and clarity. The per-parameter table below shows where the small differences actually live.
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.
Cedar Lake
Very murky, less than 2 ft of visibility.
Wells Lake
Very murky, less than 2 ft of visibility.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Cedar Lake | Wells Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 2 ft | 2 ft |
| Phosphorus | 91 µg/L Better | 211 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 72.6 µg/L | 40.5 µg/L Better |
| Maximum Depth | 42 ft Better | 4 ft |
| Surface Area | 902 acres | 677 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 18 Better | 15 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | hypereutrophic |
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.
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Verdict
Cedar Lake and Wells Lake read the same on nutrients and algae overall. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Cedar Lake: 2 ft, Wells Lake: 2 ft) and what you want from the lake. Cedar Lake supports more documented fish species.
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Where to stay near Cedar Lake and Wells Lake
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Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.