Lac Courte Oreilles Lake vs Sand Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Lac Courte Oreilles Lake and Sand Lake read the same on nutrients and algae. Both are in Sawyer County, Wisconsin.
Both Lac Courte Oreilles Lake and Sand 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: Lac Courte Oreilles Lake and Sand 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.
Lac Courte Oreilles Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 12.2 ft.
Sand Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 10 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Lac Courte Oreilles Lake | Sand Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 12.2 ft Better | 10 ft |
| Phosphorus | 15 µg/L Better | 23.8 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 1.7 µg/L Better | 4.1 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 90 ft Better | 50 ft |
| Surface Area | 5,139 acres | 949 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 6 | 6 |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | 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.
Swap a lake
Compare Lac Courte Oreilles Lake or Sand Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade A. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Lac Courte Oreilles Lake: 12.2 ft, Sand Lake: 10 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.