Sand Lake vs Whitefish Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Sand Lake and Whitefish Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of A (Excellent). Both are in Sawyer County, Wisconsin.
Sand Lake and Whitefish 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: Sand Lake (A) and Whitefish Lake (A) 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.
Sand Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 10 ft.
Whitefish Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 13.5 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Sand Lake | Whitefish Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | A (Excellent) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | 10 ft | 13.5 ft |
| Phosphorus | 23.8 µg/L | 14 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 4.1 µg/L | 1.6 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 50 ft | 105 ft |
| Surface Area | 949 acres | 800 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 6 | 7 |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | 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 clarity (Sand Lake: 10 ft, Whitefish Lake: 13.5 ft) and what you want from the lake. Sand Lake has fewer fish species than Whitefish Lake.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.