Sibley Lake vs Upper Hay Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Upper Hay Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Sibley Lake. Both are in Crow Wing County, Minnesota.
Sibley Lake and Upper Hay Lake are both in Minnesota — 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 readings are meaningfully apart: Upper Hay Lake carries clearly lower phosphorus and chlorophyll-a readings than Sibley Lake. A spread that wide reflects real underlying differences, in watershed inputs, depth profiles, or monitoring rigor.
For a recreational visitor, the wider gap in the readings is decisive: Upper Hay Lake has the lower nutrient and algae numbers. For a researcher, the gap is the interesting part: what is different about the two watersheds, and which of those differences is mutable?
Sibley Lake
Murky, only visible to about 5.6 ft.
Upper Hay Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 10.9 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Sibley Lake | Upper Hay Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 5.6 ft | 10.9 ft Better |
| Phosphorus | 26 µg/L | 20 µg/L Better |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 11 µg/L | 4.8 µg/L Better |
| Maximum Depth | 40 ft | 42 ft Better |
| Surface Area | 444 acres | 596 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 16 Better | 13 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | 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
Upper Hay Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Sibley Lake. Water clarity: 10.9 ft vs 5.6 ft. For more fish-species variety, Sibley Lake edges ahead with 16 documented species.
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Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.