Drewery Lake vs Wolf Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Wolf Lake has a higher water quality grade (A, Excellent) than Drewery Lake (C, Fair). Both are in Beltrami County, Minnesota.
Both Drewery Lake and Wolf 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 meaningfully apart: Wolf Lake grades a A while Drewery Lake grades a C. That two-letter spread reflects real underlying differences — different watershed inputs, different depth profiles, or different monitoring rigor.
For a recreational visitor, the wider grade gap is decisive — Wolf Lake is the better water-quality choice. For a researcher, the gap is the interesting part: what is different about the two watersheds, and which of those differences is mutable?
Drewery Lake
Murky, only visible to about 3.5 ft.
Wolf Lake
Moderate clarity, visible to about 9 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Drewery Lake | Wolf Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | C (Fair) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | 3.5 ft | 9 ft |
| Phosphorus | 11.5 µg/L | 19 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 2.7 µg/L | 5.3 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 120 ft | 57 ft |
| Surface Area | 15,958 acres | 1,076 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 21 | 18 |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | mesotrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Wolf Lake wins on overall water quality with a Grade A versus Drewery Lake's Grade C. Water clarity: 9 ft vs 3.5 ft. For more fish-species variety, Drewery Lake edges ahead with 21 documented species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.