First Crow Wing Lake vs Long Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Long Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than First Crow Wing Lake. Both are in Hubbard County, Minnesota.
Both First Crow Wing Lake and Long 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. Long Lake reads materially cleaner than First 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?
First Crow Wing Lake
Murky, only visible to about 5.9 ft.
Long Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 11.2 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | First Crow Wing Lake | Long Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 5.9 ft | 11.2 ft Better |
| Phosphorus | 30 µg/L | 10 µg/L Better |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 10.9 µg/L | 4.5 µg/L Better |
| Maximum Depth | 15 ft | 135 ft Better |
| Surface Area | 522 acres | 1,926 acres |
| Public Access | No | Yes |
| Fish Species | 17 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 First Crow Wing Lake or Long Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Long Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than First Crow Wing Lake. Water clarity: 11.2 ft vs 5.9 ft. For more fish-species variety, First Crow Wing Lake edges ahead with 17 documented species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.