Elbow Lake vs Pelican Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Elbow Lake and Pelican Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of C (Fair). Both are in St. Louis County, Minnesota.
Elbow Lake and Pelican 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. These two are within a letter of each other on the rubric — Elbow Lake (C) versus Pelican Lake (C). 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.
Elbow Lake
Moderate clarity, visible to about 7 ft.
Pelican Lake
Moderate clarity, visible to about 7.5 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Elbow Lake | Pelican Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | C (Fair) | C (Fair) |
| Water Clarity | 7 ft | 7.5 ft |
| Phosphorus | No data | No data |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 60 ft | 38 ft |
| Surface Area | 1.7K acres | 11.5K acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 1 | 1 |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | mesotrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade C. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Elbow Lake: 7 ft, Pelican Lake: 7.5 ft) and what you want from the lake. Elbow Lake matches its peer on species count.