Chippewa Flowage -North of Cranberry Bars Lake vs Lac Courte Oreilles Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Lac Courte Oreilles Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Chippewa Flowage -North of Cranberry Bars Lake. Both are in Sawyer County, Wisconsin.
Chippewa Flowage -North of Cranberry Bars Lake and Lac Courte Oreilles 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. The readings are meaningfully apart: Lac Courte Oreilles Lake carries clearly lower phosphorus and chlorophyll-a readings than Chippewa Flowage -North of Cranberry Bars Lake. A spread that wide reflects real underlying differences, in watershed inputs, depth profiles, or monitoring rigor.
For a recreational visitor, the wider gap in the readings is decisive: Lac Courte Oreilles 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?
Chippewa Flowage -North of Cranberry Bars Lake
Murky, only visible to about 4.9 ft.
Lac Courte Oreilles Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 12.2 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Chippewa Flowage -North of Cranberry Bars Lake | Lac Courte Oreilles Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 4.9 ft | 12.2 ft Better |
| Phosphorus | 32 µg/L | 15 µg/L Better |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 10 µg/L | 1.7 µg/L Better |
| Maximum Depth | 92 ft Better | 90 ft |
| Surface Area | 14,593 acres | 5,139 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 8 Better | 6 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | mesotrophic |
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 Chippewa Flowage -North of Cranberry Bars Lake or Lac Courte Oreilles Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Lac Courte Oreilles Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Chippewa Flowage -North of Cranberry Bars Lake. Water clarity: 12.2 ft vs 4.9 ft. For more fish-species variety, Chippewa Flowage -North of Cranberry Bars Lake edges ahead with 8 documented species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.