Lake of Three Fires Max Depth vs Sands Timber Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Lake of Three Fires Max Depth and Sands Timber Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of F (Very Poor). Both are in Taylor County, Wisconsin.
Lake of Three Fires Max Depth and Sands Timber Lake are both in Iowa — 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. These two are within a letter of each other on the rubric — Lake of Three Fires Max Depth (F) versus Sands Timber Lake (F). 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.
Lake of Three Fires Max Depth
Very murky, less than 2 ft of visibility.
Sands Timber Lake
Very murky, less than 1.8 ft of visibility.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Lake of Three Fires Max Depth | Sands Timber Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | F (Very Poor) | F (Very Poor) |
| Water Clarity | 2 ft | 1.8 ft |
| Phosphorus | No data | No data |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 58.6 µg/L | 70.1 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | - | - |
| Surface Area | 125 acres | 70 acres |
| Public Access | Unknown | Unknown |
| Fish Species | 0 | 0 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | hypereutrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade F. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Lake of Three Fires Max Depth: 2 ft, Sands Timber Lake: 1.8 ft) and what you want from the lake. Lake of Three Fires Max Depth matches its peer on species count.