Pelican Lake vs Silver Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Pelican Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Silver Lake. Both are in Otter Tail County, Minnesota.
Both Pelican Lake and Silver 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: Pelican Lake and Silver 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.
Pelican Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 16.4 ft down.
Silver Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 12.1 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Pelican Lake | Silver Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 16.4 ft Better | 12.1 ft |
| Phosphorus | 15 µg/L Better | 16 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 3 µg/L Better | 4.4 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 55 ft Better | 43 ft |
| Surface Area | 3,962 acres | 529 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 20 Better | 13 |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | mesotrophic |
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
Pelican Lake and Silver Lake read the same on nutrients and algae overall. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Pelican Lake: 16.4 ft, Silver Lake: 12.1 ft) and what you want from the lake. Pelican Lake supports more documented fish species.
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Where to stay near Pelican Lake and Silver Lake
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Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.