Minnewaska Lake vs Pelican Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Minnewaska Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Pelican Lake. Both are in Pope County, Minnesota.
Both Minnewaska Lake and Pelican 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 meaningfully apart: Minnewaska Lake carries clearly lower phosphorus and chlorophyll-a readings than Pelican Lake. A spread that wide reflects real underlying differences, in watershed inputs, depth profiles, or monitoring rigor.
For a recreational visitor, the wider gap in the readings is decisive: Minnewaska Lake has the lower nutrient and algae numbers. For a researcher, the gap is the interesting part: what is different about the two watersheds, and which of those differences is mutable?
Minnewaska Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 11 ft.
Pelican Lake
Murky, only visible to about 5.2 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Minnewaska Lake | Pelican Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 11 ft Better | 5.2 ft |
| Phosphorus | 24 µg/L Better | 50 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 6 µg/L Better | 23.1 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 32 ft | 34 ft Better |
| Surface Area | 8,050 acres | 518 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 21 Better | 18 |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | eutrophic |
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.
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Verdict
Minnewaska Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Pelican Lake. Water clarity: 11 ft vs 5.2 ft. For fishing diversity, Minnewaska Lake also leads with 21 species.
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Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.