Crystal Lake vs Eagle Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Eagle Lake has a higher water quality grade (A, Excellent) than Crystal Lake (B, Good). Both are in Otter Tail County, Minnesota.
Both Crystal Lake and Eagle 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 — Crystal Lake (B) versus Eagle Lake (A). 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.
Crystal Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 10.2 ft.
Eagle Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 22.6 ft down.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Crystal Lake | Eagle Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | B (Good) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | 10.2 ft | 22.6 ft |
| Phosphorus | 20 µg/L | 5 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 55 ft | 46 ft |
| Surface Area | 1.4K acres | 907.4 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 17 | 10 |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | oligotrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Eagle Lake wins on overall water quality with a Grade A versus Crystal Lake's Grade B. Water clarity: 22.6 ft vs 10.2 ft. For more fish-species variety, Crystal Lake edges ahead with 17 documented species.