Namekagon Lake vs Upper Eau Claire Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Namekagon Lake and Upper Eau Claire Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of A (Excellent). Both are in Bayfield County, Wisconsin.
Namekagon Lake and Upper Eau Claire 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. These two are within a letter of each other on the rubric — Namekagon Lake (A) versus Upper Eau Claire Lake (A). 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.
Namekagon Lake
No clarity data.
Upper Eau Claire Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 18.7 ft down.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Namekagon Lake | Upper Eau Claire Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | A (Excellent) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | No data | 18.7 ft |
| Phosphorus | 11.7 µg/L | 11.5 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | - | - |
| Surface Area | 3.2K acres | 1.0K acres |
| Public Access | Unknown | Unknown |
| Fish Species | 0 | 0 |
| Trophic State | oligotrophic | oligotrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade A. The tiebreakers come down to what you want from the lake. Namekagon Lake matches its peer on species count.