Sugar Lake vs Vermillion Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Sugar Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Vermillion Lake. Both are in Cass County, Minnesota.
Sugar Lake and Vermillion 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: Sugar Lake carries clearly lower phosphorus and chlorophyll-a readings than Vermillion 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: Sugar 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?
Sugar Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 13.5 ft.
Vermillion Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 12.6 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Sugar Lake | Vermillion Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 13.5 ft Better | 12.6 ft |
| Phosphorus | 18 µg/L Better | 25 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 7 µg/L Better | 10 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 44 ft Better | 27 ft |
| Surface Area | 699 acres | 410 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 11 | 14 Better |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | 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
Sugar Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Vermillion Lake. Water clarity: 13.5 ft vs 12.6 ft. For more fish-species variety, Vermillion Lake edges ahead with 14 documented species.
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Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.