Upper Maple Lake vs West Sylvia Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Upper Maple Lake and West Sylvia Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of A (Excellent). Both are in Wright County, Minnesota.
Upper Maple Lake and West Sylvia 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 grades are close: Upper Maple Lake (A) and West Sylvia 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.
Upper Maple Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 18 ft down.
West Sylvia Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 22 ft down.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Upper Maple Lake | West Sylvia Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | A (Excellent) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | 18 ft | 22 ft |
| Phosphorus | 16 µg/L | 8 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 76 ft | 97 ft |
| Surface Area | 632.6 acres | 904.39 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 1 | 1 |
| Trophic State | oligotrophic | 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 (Upper Maple Lake: 18 ft, West Sylvia Lake: 22 ft) and what you want from the lake. Upper Maple Lake matches its peer on species count.