Lac Courte Oreilles Lake vs Whitefish Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Lac Courte Oreilles Lake and Whitefish Lake read the same on nutrients and algae. Both are in Sawyer County, Wisconsin.
Both Lac Courte Oreilles Lake and Whitefish 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 Whitefish 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.
Whitefish Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 13.5 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Lac Courte Oreilles Lake | Whitefish Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 12.2 ft | 13.5 ft Better |
| Phosphorus | 15 µg/L | 14 µg/L Better |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 1.7 µg/L | 1.6 µg/L Better |
| Maximum Depth | 90 ft | 105 ft Better |
| Surface Area | 5,139 acres | 800 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 6 | 7 Better |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | oligotrophic |
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 Whitefish 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, Whitefish Lake: 13.5 ft) and what you want from the lake. Lac Courte Oreilles Lake has fewer fish species than Whitefish Lake.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.