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LakeQuality

Shallow Lake vs Trout Lake

Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.

Shallow Lake and Trout Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of A (Excellent). Both are in Itasca County, Minnesota.

A

Shallow Lake

Itasca County, Minnesota

Crystal clear, you can see 16.4 ft down.

A

Trout Lake

Itasca County, Minnesota

Crystal clear, you can see 18 ft down.

Side-by-Side Metrics

MetricShallow LakeTrout Lake
Overall GradeA (Excellent)A (Excellent)
Water Clarity16.4 ft18 ft
Phosphorus9 µg/L3.5 µg/L
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)No dataNo data
Maximum Depth85 ft157 ft
Surface Area538.95 acres1.7K acres
Public AccessYesNo
Fish Species129
Trophic Stateoligotrophicoligotrophic

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 (Shallow Lake: 16.4 ft, Trout Lake: 18 ft) and what you want from the lake. Shallow Lake supports more documented fish species.