Spirit Lake vs Upper Estuary Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Spirit Lake and Upper Estuary Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of C (Fair).
Spirit Lake is in Wisconsin; Upper Estuary Lake is in Minnesota. Cross-state comparisons carry an extra wrinkle — Wisconsin DNR and Minnesota PCA use slightly different sampling cadences and station coverage, though both feed the same EPA Water Quality Portal. These two are within a letter of each other on the rubric — Spirit Lake (C) versus Upper Estuary Lake (C). The deciding factors for a recreational visitor are likely physical (depth, access, fish species) rather than water-quality differences.
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.
Spirit Lake
Very murky, less than 1.3 ft of visibility.
Upper Estuary Lake
Very murky, less than 1.9 ft of visibility.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Spirit Lake | Upper Estuary Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | C (Fair) | C (Fair) |
| Water Clarity | 1.3 ft | 1.9 ft Better |
| Phosphorus | 59.5 µg/L | 49.5 µg/L Better |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 1.5 µg/L Better | 1.7 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | - | 55 ft |
| Surface Area | 996 acres | 10,255 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 0 | 33 Better |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | eutrophic |
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.
Swap a lake
Compare Spirit Lake or Upper Estuary Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade C. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Spirit Lake: 1.3 ft, Upper Estuary Lake: 1.9 ft) and what you want from the lake. Spirit Lake has fewer fish species than Upper Estuary Lake.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.