Clear Lake vs Loon Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Clear Lake and Loon Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of F (Very Poor). Both are in Jackson County, Minnesota.
Both Clear Lake and Loon 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. These two are within a letter of each other on the rubric — Clear Lake (F) versus Loon Lake (F). 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.
Clear Lake
Very murky, less than 1.5 ft of visibility.
Loon Lake
Very murky, less than 0.9 ft of visibility.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Clear Lake | Loon Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | F (Very Poor) | F (Very Poor) |
| Water Clarity | 1.5 ft | 0.9 ft |
| Phosphorus | 90.5 µg/L | 274 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 44 µg/L | 110 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 9 ft | 8 ft |
| Surface Area | 434 acres | 708 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 15 | 18 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | hypereutrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade F. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Clear Lake: 1.5 ft, Loon Lake: 0.9 ft) and what you want from the lake. Clear Lake has fewer fish species than Loon Lake.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.