Pine Lake South Beach vs Upper Pine Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Pine Lake South Beach and Upper Pine Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of F (Very Poor). Both are in Hardin County, Wisconsin.
Pine Lake South Beach and Upper Pine Lake are both in Iowa — 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: Pine Lake South Beach (F) and Upper Pine Lake (F) 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.
Pine Lake South Beach
Very murky, less than 1.4 ft of visibility.
Upper Pine Lake
Very murky, less than 1.3 ft of visibility.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Pine Lake South Beach | Upper Pine Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | F (Very Poor) | F (Very Poor) |
| Water Clarity | 1.4 ft | 1.3 ft |
| Phosphorus | No data | No data |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | 66.7 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | - | - |
| Surface Area | 85 acres | 110 acres |
| Public Access | Unknown | Unknown |
| Fish Species | 0 | 0 |
| Trophic State | hypereutrophic | hypereutrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade F. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Pine Lake South Beach: 1.4 ft, Upper Pine Lake: 1.3 ft) and what you want from the lake. Pine Lake South Beach matches its peer on species count.