Clear Lake vs Mille Lacs Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Clear Lake has a higher water quality grade (A, Excellent) than Mille Lacs Lake (B, Good). Both are in Aitkin County, Minnesota.
Both Clear Lake and Mille Lacs Lake sit in Minnesota. 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. The grades are close: Clear Lake (A) and Mille Lacs Lake (B) are within one letter of each other on the LakeGrade rubric. The per-parameter sub-grades below will show where the small differences actually live.
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.
Clear Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 15 ft down.
Mille Lacs Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 10 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Clear Lake | Mille Lacs Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | A (Excellent) | B (Good) |
| Water Clarity | 15 ft | 10 ft |
| Phosphorus | 15 µg/L | No data |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 24 ft | 42 ft |
| Surface Area | 573.5 acres | 128.3K acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 14 | 21 |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | mesotrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Clear Lake wins on overall water quality with a Grade A versus Mille Lacs Lake's Grade B. Water clarity: 15 ft vs 10 ft. For more fish-species variety, Mille Lacs Lake edges ahead with 21 documented species.