Lac Courte Oreilles Lake vs Round Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Lac Courte Oreilles Lake and Round Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of A (Excellent). Both are in Sawyer County, Wisconsin.
Both Lac Courte Oreilles Lake and Round Lake sit in Wisconsin. A same-state comparison strips out the state-level water-quality regime as a variable: any grade differences here are about the lakes themselves, not the agencies grading them. These two are within a letter of each other on the rubric — Lac Courte Oreilles Lake (A) versus Round Lake (A). The deciding factors for a recreational visitor are likely physical (depth, access, fish species) rather than water-quality differences.
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.
Lac Courte Oreilles Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 12.2 ft.
Round Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 21.1 ft down.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Lac Courte Oreilles Lake | Round Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | A (Excellent) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | 12.2 ft | 21.1 ft |
| Phosphorus | 15 µg/L | 14 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 1.7 µg/L | 0.9 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 90 ft | 74 ft |
| Surface Area | 5,139 acres | 3,294 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 6 | 6 |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | 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 (Lac Courte Oreilles Lake: 12.2 ft, Round Lake: 21.1 ft) and what you want from the lake. Lac Courte Oreilles Lake matches its peer on species count.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.