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LakeQuality

Greenwood Lake vs Pine Lake

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

Pine Lake has a higher water quality grade (A, Excellent) than Greenwood Lake (A, Excellent). Both are in Cook County, Minnesota.

Greenwood Lake and Pine Lake are both in Minnesota — 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. The grades are close: Greenwood Lake (A) and Pine 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.

A

Greenwood Lake

Cook County, Minnesota

Good clarity, visible to about 14.8 ft.

A

Pine Lake

Cook County, Minnesota

Crystal clear, you can see 18 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.

MetricGreenwood LakePine Lake
Overall GradeA (Excellent)A (Excellent)
Water Clarity14.8 ft18 ft
Phosphorus8 µg/LNo data
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)No dataNo data
Maximum Depth112 ft113 ft
Surface Area2.0K acres2.1K acres
Public AccessYesNo
Fish Species11
Trophic Stateoligotrophicoligotrophic

Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).

Verdict

Pine Lake wins on overall water quality with a Grade A versus Greenwood Lake's Grade A. Water clarity: 18 ft vs 14.8 ft. For fishing diversity, Pine Lake also leads with 1 species.