Ely Lake vs Smith Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Ely Lake and Smith Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of A (Excellent). Both are in St. Louis County, Minnesota.
Ely Lake and Smith 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. The grades are close: Ely Lake (A) and Smith Lake (A) are within one letter of each other on the LakeGrade rubric. The per-parameter sub-grades below will show where the small differences actually live.
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.
Ely Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 16 ft down.
Smith Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 15 ft down.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Ely Lake | Smith Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | A (Excellent) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | 16 ft | 15 ft |
| Phosphorus | 7 µg/L | No data |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | - | - |
| Surface Area | 780 acres | 220 acres |
| Public Access | Unknown | Unknown |
| Fish Species | 1 | 1 |
| Trophic State | oligotrophic | oligotrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade A. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Ely Lake: 16 ft, Smith Lake: 15 ft) and what you want from the lake. Ely Lake matches its peer on species count.