Lower Bottle Lake vs Upper Bottle Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Lower Bottle Lake and Upper Bottle Lake read the same on nutrients and algae. Both are in Hubbard County, Minnesota.
Both Lower Bottle 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. These two sit close on the readings, Lower Bottle Lake versus Upper Bottle Lake. The deciding factors for a recreational visitor are likely physical (depth, access, fish species) rather than water-quality differences.
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.
Lower Bottle Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 15 ft down.
Upper Bottle Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 16 ft down.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Lower Bottle Lake | Upper Bottle Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 15 ft | 16 ft Better |
| Phosphorus | 10 µg/L Better | 11 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 2.5 µg/L Better | 3 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 110 ft Better | 55 ft |
| Surface Area | 641 acres | 459 acres |
| Public Access | No | Yes |
| Fish Species | 13 | 14 Better |
| Trophic State | oligotrophic | 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 Lower Bottle Lake or Upper Bottle Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade A. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Lower Bottle Lake: 15 ft, Upper Bottle Lake: 16 ft) and what you want from the lake. Lower Bottle Lake has fewer fish species than Upper Bottle Lake.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.