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 10.5 ft.
North Long Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 15.1 ft down.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Gladstone Lake | North Long Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | A (Excellent) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | 10.5 ft | 15.1 ft Better |
| Phosphorus | 17 µg/L | 14 µg/L Better |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 4.8 µg/L | 2.7 µg/L Better |
| Maximum Depth | 36 ft | 97 ft Better |
| Surface Area | 437 acres | 6,190 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 15 | 18 Better |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | 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 Gladstone Lake or North Long Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade A. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Gladstone Lake: 10.5 ft, North Long Lake: 15.1 ft) and what you want from the lake. Gladstone Lake has fewer fish species than North Long Lake.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.