Forest Lake vs White Sand Lake Deep
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Forest Lake and White Sand Lake Deep both received the same overall water quality grade of A (Excellent). Both are in Vilas County, Wisconsin.
Both Forest Lake and White Sand Lake Deep sit in Wisconsin. 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. These two are within a letter of each other on the rubric — Forest Lake (A) versus White Sand Lake Deep (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.
Forest Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 22.2 ft down.
White Sand Lake Deep
Crystal clear, you can see 18 ft down.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Forest Lake | White Sand Lake Deep |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | A (Excellent) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | 22.2 ft | 18 ft |
| Phosphorus | 12.7 µg/L | No data |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 60 ft | 63 ft |
| Surface Area | 468 acres | 1.2K acres |
| Public Access | Unknown | Unknown |
| Fish Species | 0 | 0 |
| 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 (Forest Lake: 22.2 ft, White Sand Lake Deep: 18 ft) and what you want from the lake. Forest Lake matches its peer on species count.