Long Lake vs Upper Bottle Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Long Lake and Upper Bottle Lake read the same on nutrients and algae. Both are in Hubbard County, Minnesota.
Both Long Lake and Upper Bottle Lake sit in Minnesota. 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: Long Lake and Upper Bottle 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.
Long Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 11.2 ft.
Upper Bottle Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 16 ft down.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Long Lake | Upper Bottle Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 11.2 ft | 16 ft Better |
| Phosphorus | 10 µg/L Better | 11 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 4.5 µg/L | 3 µg/L Better |
| Maximum Depth | 135 ft Better | 55 ft |
| Surface Area | 1,926 acres | 459 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 14 | 14 |
| 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 Long Lake or Upper Bottle Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade A. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Long Lake: 11.2 ft, Upper Bottle Lake: 16 ft) and what you want from the lake. Long Lake matches its peer on species count.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.