Lac Courte Oreilles Lake vs Sand Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Lac Courte Oreilles Lake and Sand Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of A (Excellent). 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 grade differences here are about the lakes themselves, not the agencies grading them. The grades are close: Lac Courte Oreilles Lake (A) and Sand 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | A (Excellent) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | 12.2 ft | 10 ft |
| Phosphorus | 15 µg/L | 23.8 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 1.7 µg/L | 4.1 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 90 ft | 50 ft |
| Surface Area | 5,139 acres | 949 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 6 | 6 |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | mesotrophic |
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, 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.