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LakeQuality

Forest Lake vs Forest Lake

Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.

Forest Lake and Forest Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of A (Excellent). Both are in Vilas County, Wisconsin.

Forest Lake and Forest Lake are both in Wisconsin — 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 — Forest Lake (A) versus Forest Lake (A). 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.

A

Forest Lake

Vilas County, Wisconsin

Crystal clear, you can see 22.2 ft down.

A

Forest Lake

Vilas County, Wisconsin

Crystal clear, you can see 23 ft down.

Side-by-Side Metrics

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

MetricForest LakeForest Lake
Overall GradeA (Excellent)A (Excellent)
Water Clarity22.2 ft23 ft
Phosphorus12.7 µg/LNo data
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)No dataNo data
Maximum Depth60 ft60 ft
Surface Area468 acres468 acres
Public AccessUnknownUnknown
Fish Species00
Trophic Stateoligotrophicoligotrophic

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 (Forest Lake: 22.2 ft, Forest Lake: 23 ft) and what you want from the lake. Forest Lake matches its peer on species count.