What lakes are in the Chippewa River Watershed?

133 monitored lakes drain through the Chippewa River Watershed, including Lac Courte Oreilles Lake, Whitefish Lake, Round Lake, and others. The watershed spans Wisconsin.

What is the cleanest lake in the Chippewa River Watershed?

Lac Courte Oreilles Lake in Sawyer County is the highest-rated lake in the Chippewa River Watershed with a Grade A.

What is a HUC8 watershed?

HUC8 (Hydrologic Unit Code, 8-digit) is the USGS classification for "subbasins" — the level at which major named river systems are usually identified. The Chippewa River Watershed corresponds to HUC8 07050001.

Chippewa River Watershed, Lakes & Water Quality

The Chippewa River basin draining north-central Wisconsin, including the Hayward Lakes and Chippewa Flowage — world-class musky destination.

Reviewed by LakeQuality Editorial Team · Updated Aug 2, 2026

Counties in this watershed

Sawyer, Washburn, Chippewa, Eau Claire, Pepin, Buffalo, Rusk, Taylor

Monitored Lakes (133)

#	Lake	County	Grade	Clarity	Area	Depth
1	Lac Courte Oreilles Lake	Sawyer	A	12.2 ft	5,139 acres	90 ft
2	Whitefish Lake	Sawyer	A	13.5 ft	800 acres	105 ft
3	Round Lake	Sawyer	A	21.1 ft	3,294 acres	74 ft
4	Indian Lake	Sawyer	A	6.5 ft	76 acres	9 ft
5	Little Lac Courte Oreilles Lake	Sawyer	A	12 ft	221 acres	46 ft
6	Christner Lake	Sawyer	A	12 ft	36 acres	16 ft
7	Sand Lake	Sawyer	A	10 ft	949 acres	50 ft
8	Ashegon Lake	Sawyer	A	10.5 ft	75 acres	56 ft
9	Blueberry Lake	Sawyer	A	14.8 ft	292 acres	29 ft
10	Little Round Lake	Sawyer	A	17.3 ft	179 acres	38 ft
11	Osprey Lake	Sawyer	A	16 ft	214 acres	32 ft
12	Grindstone Lake	Sawyer	A	17.4 ft	3,176 acres	60 ft
13	Lost Lake	Sawyer	A	10.6 ft	51 acres	13 ft
14	Durphee Lake	Sawyer	A	8.1 ft	-	-
15	Spider Lake	Sawyer	B	10.5 ft	1,194 acres	64 ft
16	Balsam Lake	Washburn	B	8.8 ft	-	-
17	Round Lake	Chippewa	B	8.4 ft	216 acres	18 ft
18	Deep Lake	Washburn	B	7.5 ft	43 acres	25 ft
19	Bass Lake	Washburn	B	16 ft	132 acres	31 ft
20	Callahan Lake	Sawyer	B	10.6 ft	138 acres	18 ft
21	Clear Lake	Sawyer	B	17.3 ft	77 acres	32 ft
22	Clear Lake	Rusk	B	13.7 ft	94 acres	74 ft
23	Two Island Lake	Chippewa	B	15.3 ft	29 acres	38 ft
24	Long Lake	Washburn	B	9.5 ft	3,290 acres	-
25	Long Lake	Chippewa	B	13.1 ft	936 acres	101 ft
26	Nelson Lake	Sawyer	B	5 ft	2,503 acres	-
27	Stone Lake	Washburn	B	23 ft	490 acres	49 ft
28	Island Lake	Rusk	B	7.7 ft	543 acres	54 ft
29	Mud Lake	Sawyer	B	10 ft	464 acres	15 ft
30	North Twin Lake	Washburn	B	9 ft	-	-
31	Lower Mckenzie Lake	Washburn	B	11 ft	-	-
32	Lake Esadore	Taylor	B	4.5 ft	48 acres	36 ft
33	Shell Lake	Washburn	B	16 ft	2,513 acres	36 ft
34	Bean Lake	Washburn	B	10 ft	100 acres	35 ft
35	Tiger Cat Flowage Lake	Sawyer	B	10.8 ft	819 acres	30 ft
36	Horseshoe Lake	Washburn	B	13 ft	177 acres	21 ft
37	Windigo Lake	Sawyer	B	11 ft	503 acres	51 ft
38	Tozer Lake	Washburn	B	16 ft	35 acres	53 ft
39	Mclain Lake	Washburn	B	9.5 ft	143 acres	30 ft
40	Lake of the Pines	Sawyer	B	8 ft	-	-
41	Middle Kimball Lake	Washburn	B	16 ft	96 acres	77 ft
42	Little Sissabagama Lake	Sawyer	B	12.2 ft	308 acres	75 ft
43	Matthews Lake	Washburn	B	13.3 ft	267 acres	26 ft
44	Lake Nancy	Washburn	B	14 ft	757 acres	39 ft
45	South Twin Lake	Washburn	B	14 ft	106 acres	29 ft
46	Gilmore Lake	Washburn	B	10 ft	371 acres	36 ft
47	Connors Lake	Sawyer	B	11 ft	-	-
48	Upper Kimball Lake	Washburn	B	10 ft	42 acres	11 ft
49	Axhandle Lake	Chippewa	B	10.2 ft	86 acres	72.5 ft
50	Teal Lake	Sawyer	B	6.6 ft	1,024 acres	31 ft
51	Lake Placid	Sawyer	B	15 ft	178 acres	30 ft
52	Richter Lake	Taylor	B	10 ft	43 acres	50 ft
53	Big Mckenzie Lake	Washburn	B	10 ft	1,129 acres	71 ft
54	Lower Kimball Lake	Washburn	B	6 ft	125 acres	6 ft
55	Lost Land Lake	Sawyer	B	10 ft	1,264 acres	21 ft
56	Barber Lake	Sawyer	B	10.3 ft	138 acres	21 ft
57	Sissabagama Lake	Sawyer	B	8 ft	805 acres	48 ft
58	Spooner Lake	Washburn	B	6.5 ft	1,132 acres	17 ft
59	Slim Lake	Washburn	B	15.7 ft	210 acres	42 ft
60	Burns Lake	Sawyer	B	11.5 ft	41 acres	9 ft
61	Yellow River Flowage Lake	Washburn	B	10 ft	85 acres	17 ft
62	Billy Boy Flowage Lake	Sawyer	B	-	221 acres	46 ft
63	Green Lake	Sawyer	C	4.7 ft	50 acres	9 ft
64	Chippewa Flowage Lake	Sawyer	C	6.9 ft	14,593 acres	92 ft
65	Birch Lake	Washburn	C	5.5 ft	364 acres	73 ft
66	Pike Lake	Sawyer	C	7.6 ft	42 acres	17 ft
67	Potato Lake	Washburn	C	9.9 ft	224 acres	20 ft
68	Minong Flowage Lake	Washburn	C	3.5 ft	1,587 acres	21 ft
69	Loon Lake	Chippewa	C	4.9 ft	134 acres	9 ft
70	Spring Lake	Sawyer	C	8.9 ft	202 acres	18 ft
71	Moose Lake	Sawyer	C	2 ft	1,559 acres	21 ft
72	Chippewa Flowage -North of Cranberry Bars Lake	Sawyer	C	4.9 ft	14,593 acres	92 ft
73	Amacoy Lake	Rusk	C	4.5 ft	283 acres	20 ft
74	Chippewa Flowage -Moore'S Bay Lake	Sawyer	C	4.1 ft	14,593 acres	92 ft
75	Lower Clam Lake	Sawyer	C	5.5 ft	214 acres	30 ft
76	Chippewa Flowage -Pokegema Lake	Sawyer	C	5.8 ft	14,593 acres	92 ft
77	Gurno Lake	Sawyer	C	10 ft	76 acres	27 ft
78	Kekegama Lake	Washburn	C	5.2 ft	128 acres	24 ft
79	Murphy Flowage Lake	Rusk	C	-	169 acres	14 ft
80	Altoona Lake	Eau Claire	D	3 ft	720 acres	25 ft
81	Holcombe Flowage Lake	Chippewa	D	3.7 ft	4,300 acres	-
82	Spirit Lake	Taylor	D	3 ft	137 acres	9 ft
83	Chippewa Flowage -Winter Dam Lake	Sawyer	D	4.4 ft	14,593 acres	92 ft
84	Chequamegon Waters Flowage Lake	Taylor	D	2.5 ft	2,366 acres	22 ft
85	Lake Wissota	Chippewa	D	3.5 ft	6,148 acres	64.4 ft
86	Eau Claire Lake	Eau Claire	D	2.8 ft	870 acres	25 ft
87	Lake Chetac North Basin	Sawyer	D	-	2,400 acres	26 ft
88	Birch Lake	Sawyer	D	-	364 acres	73 ft
89	Lake Chetac	Sawyer	D	-	2,400 acres	26 ft
90	Spider Lake	Washburn	NR	9.5 ft	-	-
91	Cranberry Lake	Taylor	NR	2 ft	10 acres	8 ft
92	Silver Lake	Washburn	NR	11 ft	188 acres	28 ft
93	Mccann Lake	Rusk	NR	5.7 ft	126 acres	38 ft
94	Big Bass Lake	Washburn	NR	17.9 ft	201 acres	27 ft
95	Bass Lake	Washburn	NR	14 ft	187 acres	35 ft
96	Chain Lake	Chippewa	NR	8.2 ft	454 acres	74 ft
97	Dairyland Reservoir	Rusk	NR	1.4 ft	1,870 acres	70 ft
98	Potato Lake	Rusk	NR	3 ft	-	-
99	Island Lake	Washburn	NR	14.5 ft	252 acres	44 ft
100	Mud Lake	Washburn	NR	-	126 acres	13 ft