Clearwater Lake vs Gunflint Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Clearwater Lake and Gunflint Lake read the same on nutrients and algae. Both are in Cook County, Minnesota.
Clearwater Lake and Gunflint 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. The readings are close: Clearwater Lake and Gunflint 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.
Clearwater Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 29 ft down.
Gunflint Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 16.5 ft down.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Clearwater Lake | Gunflint Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 29 ft Better | 16.5 ft |
| Phosphorus | 4 µg/L Better | 5.5 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 1.3 µg/L Better | 2.6 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 65 ft | 200 ft Better |
| Surface Area | 462 acres | 4,009 acres |
| Public Access | No | Yes |
| Fish Species | 0 | 12 Better |
| Trophic State | oligotrophic | oligotrophic |
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 Clearwater Lake or Gunflint Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade A. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Clearwater Lake: 29 ft, Gunflint Lake: 16.5 ft) and what you want from the lake. Clearwater Lake has fewer fish species than Gunflint Lake.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.