Elbow Lake vs Tulaby Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Elbow Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Tulaby Lake. Both are in Minnesota.
Both Elbow Lake and Tulaby Lake sit in Minnesota. A same-state comparison strips out the state-level water-quality regime as a variable: any differences in the readings here are about the lakes themselves, not the agencies sampling them. The readings are meaningfully apart: Elbow Lake carries clearly lower phosphorus and chlorophyll-a readings than Tulaby Lake. A spread that wide reflects real underlying differences, in watershed inputs, depth profiles, or monitoring rigor.
For a recreational visitor, the wider gap in the readings is decisive: Elbow 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?
Elbow Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 12.1 ft.
Tulaby Lake
Moderate clarity, visible to about 7.8 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Elbow Lake | Tulaby Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 12.1 ft Better | 7.8 ft |
| Phosphorus | 14 µg/L Better | 23 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 4.8 µg/L Better | 10.2 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 76 ft Better | 43 ft |
| Surface Area | 995 acres | 832 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 17 Better | 16 |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | eutrophic |
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 Elbow Lake or Tulaby Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Elbow Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Tulaby Lake. Water clarity: 12.1 ft vs 7.8 ft. For fishing diversity, Elbow Lake also leads with 17 species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.