Greenwood Lake vs Pine Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Pine Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Greenwood Lake. Both are in Minnesota.
Both Greenwood Lake and Pine Lake sit in Minnesota. A same-state comparison strips out the state-level water-quality regime as a variable: any differences in the readings here are about the lakes themselves, not the agencies sampling them. The readings are meaningfully apart: Pine Lake carries clearly lower phosphorus and chlorophyll-a readings than Greenwood Lake. A spread that wide reflects real underlying differences, in watershed inputs, depth profiles, or monitoring rigor.
For a recreational visitor, the wider gap in the readings is decisive: Pine Lake has the lower nutrient and algae numbers. For a researcher, the gap is the interesting part: what is different about the two watersheds, and which of those differences is mutable?
Greenwood Lake
Very murky, less than 2.1 ft of visibility.
Pine Lake
Moderate clarity, visible to about 7.5 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Greenwood Lake | Pine Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 2.1 ft | 7.5 ft Better |
| Phosphorus | 27.5 µg/L | 15.5 µg/L Better |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 5.9 µg/L | 3.9 µg/L Better |
| Maximum Depth | 7 ft | 14 ft Better |
| Surface Area | 1,329 acres | 450 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 7 | 8 Better |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | 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.
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Verdict
Pine Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Greenwood Lake. Water clarity: 7.5 ft vs 2.1 ft. For fishing diversity, Pine Lake also leads with 8 species.
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Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.