Inch Lake vs Upper Eau Claire Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Upper Eau Claire Lake has a higher water quality grade (A, Excellent) than Inch Lake (B, Good). Both are in Bayfield County, Wisconsin.
Inch Lake and Upper Eau Claire Lake are both in Wisconsin — 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: Inch Lake (B) and Upper Eau Claire 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.
Inch Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 14.1 ft.
Upper Eau Claire Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 18.7 ft down.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Inch Lake | Upper Eau Claire Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | B (Good) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | 14.1 ft | 18.7 ft |
| Phosphorus | No data | 11.5 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | - | - |
| Surface Area | 650 acres | 1.0K acres |
| Public Access | Unknown | Unknown |
| Fish Species | 0 | 0 |
| Trophic State | oligotrophic | oligotrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Upper Eau Claire Lake wins on overall water quality with a Grade A versus Inch Lake's Grade B. Water clarity: 18.7 ft vs 14.1 ft. For fishing diversity, Upper Eau Claire Lake also leads with 0 species.