Grindstone Lake vs Windigo Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Grindstone Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Windigo Lake. Both are in Sawyer County, Wisconsin.
Both Grindstone Lake and Windigo Lake sit in Wisconsin. 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 close: Grindstone Lake and Windigo Lake sit within a narrow band of each other on phosphorus, chlorophyll-a and clarity. The per-parameter table below shows where the small differences actually live.
With readings 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.
Grindstone Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 17.4 ft down.
Windigo Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 11 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Grindstone Lake | Windigo Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 17.4 ft Better | 11 ft |
| Phosphorus | 15 µg/L Better | 15.6 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 1.4 µg/L | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 60 ft Better | 51 ft |
| Surface Area | 3,176 acres | 503 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 6 Better | 5 |
| Trophic State | oligotrophic | 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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Compare Grindstone Lake or Windigo Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Grindstone Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Windigo Lake. Water clarity: 17.4 ft vs 11 ft. For fishing diversity, Grindstone Lake also leads with 6 species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.