Cottontail Lake vs Gopher Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Cottontail Lake has a higher water quality grade (F, Very Poor) than Gopher Lake (F, Very Poor). Both are in Jackson County, Wisconsin.
Both Cottontail Lake and Gopher Lake sit in Missouri. 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: Cottontail Lake (F) and Gopher Lake (F) 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.
Cottontail Lake
Very murky, less than 1.6 ft of visibility.
Gopher Lake
Very murky, less than 1.2 ft of visibility.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Cottontail Lake | Gopher Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | F (Very Poor) | F (Very Poor) |
| Water Clarity | 1.6 ft | 1.2 ft |
| Phosphorus | 86.5 µg/L | 145.7 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 39.4 µg/L | 53 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | - | - |
| Surface Area | 21 acres | 40 acres |
| Public Access | Unknown | Unknown |
| Fish Species | 0 | 0 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | hypereutrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Cottontail Lake wins on overall water quality with a Grade F versus Gopher Lake's Grade F. Water clarity: 1.6 ft vs 1.2 ft. For fishing diversity, Cottontail Lake also leads with 0 species.