Lake Owen vs Lower Eau Claire Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Lake Owen and Lower Eau Claire Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of B (Good). Both are in Bayfield County, Wisconsin.
Both Lake Owen and Lower Eau Claire 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: Lake Owen (B) and Lower Eau Claire Lake (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.
Lake Owen
Crystal clear, you can see 24.6 ft down.
Lower Eau Claire Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 14.1 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Lake Owen | Lower Eau Claire Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | B (Good) | B (Good) |
| Water Clarity | 24.6 ft | 14.1 ft |
| Phosphorus | 12.5 µg/L | 13 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 95 ft | 41 ft |
| Surface Area | 1,250 acres | 784 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Unknown |
| Fish Species | 5 | 6 |
| Trophic State | oligotrophic | mesotrophic |
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 Owen: 24.6 ft, Lower Eau Claire Lake: 14.1 ft) and what you want from the lake. Lake Owen has fewer fish species than Lower Eau Claire Lake.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.