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LakeQuality

Fountain Lake vs Pope Lake

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

Fountain Lake and Pope Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of A (Excellent). Both are in Wisconsin.

Both Fountain Lake and Pope Lake 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 — Fountain Lake (A) versus Pope 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

Fountain Lake

Portage County, Wisconsin

Crystal clear, you can see 22 ft down.

A

Pope Lake

Waupaca County, Wisconsin

Crystal clear, you can see 16 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.

MetricFountain LakePope Lake
Overall GradeA (Excellent)A (Excellent)
Water Clarity22 ft16 ft
PhosphorusNo data15.6 µg/L
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)No dataNo data
Maximum Depth--
Surface Area16 acres22 acres
Public AccessUnknownUnknown
Fish Species00
Trophic Stateoligotrophicmesotrophic

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 (Fountain Lake: 22 ft, Pope Lake: 16 ft) and what you want from the lake. Fountain Lake matches its peer on species count.