Mud Hen Lake vs Wood Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Mud Hen Lake and Wood Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of B (Good). Both are in Burnett County, Wisconsin.
Mud Hen Lake and Wood Lake are both in Wisconsin — a same-state head-to-head where the comparison comes down to lake-specific differences in depth, watershed, and monitoring history rather than the broader state-level water-quality regime. The grades are close: Mud Hen Lake (B) and Wood 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.
Mud Hen Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 11 ft.
Wood Lake
Murky, only visible to about 5.5 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Mud Hen Lake | Wood Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | B (Good) | B (Good) |
| Water Clarity | 11 ft | 5.5 ft |
| Phosphorus | 15.8 µg/L | 22.6 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 66 ft | 35 ft |
| Surface Area | 569 acres | 521 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 3 | 3 |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | eutrophic |
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 (Mud Hen Lake: 11 ft, Wood Lake: 5.5 ft) and what you want from the lake. Mud Hen Lake matches its peer on species count.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.