Skip to main content
LakeQuality

Lake Ashtabula vs Lake Ashtabula

Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.

Lake Ashtabula and Lake Ashtabula both received the same overall water quality grade of B (Good). Both are in Barnes County, North Dakota.

Reviewed by LakeQuality Editorial Team · Updated

Lake Ashtabula and Lake Ashtabula are both in North Dakota — 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: Lake Ashtabula (B) and Lake Ashtabula (B) 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.

B

Lake Ashtabula

Barnes County, North Dakota

Murky, only visible to about 3.4 ft.

B

Lake Ashtabula

Barnes County, North Dakota

Murky, only visible to about 6.6 ft.

Side-by-Side Metrics

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

MetricLake AshtabulaLake Ashtabula
Overall GradeB (Good)B (Good)
Water Clarity3.4 ft6.6 ft
PhosphorusNo dataNo data
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)3.3 µg/L4 µg/L
Maximum Depth42.8 ft42.8 ft
Surface Area5.2K acres5.5K acres
Public AccessYesUnknown
Fish Species1010
Trophic Stateeutrophicmesotrophic

Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).

Verdict

Both lakes earn the same Grade B. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Lake Ashtabula: 3.4 ft, Lake Ashtabula: 6.6 ft) and what you want from the lake. Lake Ashtabula matches its peer on species count.