Eighth Crow Wing Lake vs Long Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Long Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Eighth Crow Wing Lake. Both are in Hubbard County, Minnesota.
Eighth Crow Wing Lake and Long 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. Long Lake reads materially cleaner than Eighth Crow Wing Lake on nutrients and algae. A gap that wide is unlikely to close in a single year of remediation work; it reflects multi-decade differences in the lakes themselves.
For a recreational visitor, the wider gap in the readings is decisive: Long Lake has the lower nutrient and algae numbers. For a researcher, the gap is the interesting part: what is different about the two watersheds, and which of those differences is mutable?
Eighth Crow Wing Lake
Murky, only visible to about 5.7 ft.
Long Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 11.2 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Eighth Crow Wing Lake | Long Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 5.7 ft | 11.2 ft Better |
| Phosphorus | 24 µg/L | 10 µg/L Better |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 13.8 µg/L | 4.5 µg/L Better |
| Maximum Depth | 30 ft | 135 ft Better |
| Surface Area | 503 acres | 1,926 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 15 Better | 14 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | mesotrophic |
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 Eighth Crow Wing Lake or Long Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Long Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Eighth Crow Wing Lake. Water clarity: 11.2 ft vs 5.7 ft. For more fish-species variety, Eighth Crow Wing Lake edges ahead with 15 documented species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.