Lake St. Croix vs Lake St. Croix
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Lake St. Croix and Lake St. Croix both received the same overall water quality grade of B (Good).
Lake St. Croix is in Wisconsin; Lake St. Croix is in Minnesota. Cross-state comparisons carry an extra wrinkle — Minnesota PCA and Wisconsin DNR use slightly different sampling cadences and station coverage, though both feed the same EPA Water Quality Portal. These two are within a letter of each other on the rubric — Lake St. Croix (B) versus Lake St. Croix (B). 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 St. Croix
Murky, only visible to about 5.6 ft.
Lake St. Croix
Murky, only visible to about 5.2 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Lake St. Croix | Lake St. Croix |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | B (Good) | B (Good) |
| Water Clarity | 5.6 ft | 5.2 ft |
| Phosphorus | 16.5 µg/L | 18 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 60 ft | 78 ft |
| Surface Area | 7.7K acres | 8.4K acres |
| Public Access | Unknown | No |
| Fish Species | 0 | 1 |
| 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 B. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Lake St. Croix: 5.6 ft, Lake St. Croix: 5.2 ft) and what you want from the lake. Lake St. Croix has fewer fish species than Lake St. Croix.