Hen Lake vs Rush Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Hen Lake and Rush Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of A (Excellent). Both are in Crow Wing County, Minnesota.
Hen Lake and Rush 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: Hen Lake (A) and Rush 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.
Hen Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 17.1 ft down.
Rush Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 18 ft down.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Hen Lake | Rush Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | A (Excellent) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | 17.1 ft | 18 ft |
| Phosphorus | 14 µg/L | 13 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 2.4 µg/L | 2.1 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 105 ft | 105 ft |
| Surface Area | 858 acres | 858 acres |
| Public Access | No | No |
| Fish Species | 21 | 21 |
| Trophic State | oligotrophic | oligotrophic |
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 (Hen Lake: 17.1 ft, Rush Lake: 18 ft) and what you want from the lake. Hen Lake matches its peer on species count.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.