Fall Lake vs Garden Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Fall Lake and Garden Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of A (Excellent). Both are in Lake County, Minnesota.
Both Fall Lake and Garden 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 close: Fall Lake (A) and Garden 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.
Fall Lake
Murky, only visible to about 5.5 ft.
Garden Lake
Murky, only visible to about 5 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Fall Lake | Garden Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | A (Excellent) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | 5.5 ft | 5 ft |
| Phosphorus | 21 µg/L | 15.5 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 6 µg/L | 4.4 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 32 ft | 55 ft |
| Surface Area | 2,258 acres | 653 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 12 | 12 |
| 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 A. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Fall Lake: 5.5 ft, Garden Lake: 5 ft) and what you want from the lake. Fall Lake matches its peer on species count.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.