Gladstone Lake vs North Long Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Gladstone Lake and North Long Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of A (Excellent). Both are in Crow Wing County, Minnesota.
Both Gladstone Lake and North Long 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: Gladstone Lake (A) and North Long 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.
Gladstone Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 10 ft.
North Long Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 14.6 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Gladstone Lake | North Long Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | A (Excellent) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | 10 ft | 14.6 ft |
| Phosphorus | 17 µg/L | 14 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 36 ft | 97 ft |
| Surface Area | 437.05 acres | 6.2K acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 1 | 1 |
| 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 (Gladstone Lake: 10 ft, North Long Lake: 14.6 ft) and what you want from the lake. Gladstone Lake matches its peer on species count.