What are the Clearest Lakes in Wisconsin? The 2021 Report

 

For the best underwater photography, finding clear water with high transparency is essential. So what are the clearest lakes in Wisconsin?  Every year, I consult with Wisconsin's state-wide citizen's lake monitoring group. They're a network of individuals, usually lake-front property owners who monitor and regularly take a variety of water samples from lakes all across Wisconsin.  The data they compile helps to give us a look at how our lakes are doing. 

One of the many tasks lake monitors perform is to take regular Secchi disc readings. This is a universal way of assessing and comparing water clarity.  I'm always interested in knowing which Wisconsin inland lakes are the clearest.  Ordinarily, I rank the lakes that recorded the highest average water clarity for the previous year. This year, I'm looking at lakes that recorded the single highest Secchi disc reading in 2021. Because of Covid-19, not all the usual lakes were sampled at their usual intervals, so we have only the data that was collected. With that in mind, here are Wisconsin's clearest inland lakes and their highest single-day water clarity readings taken in 2021:

1)   Lake Metonga, Forest Co.39.5 feet

2)   Nagawicka Lake, Waukesha Co. 38 feet

3)   Sand Lake, Burnett Co. 35.5 feet

4)   Upper Eau Claire Lake, Bayfield Co. 34.5 feet

5)   White Lake, Marquette Co. 33 feet

6)   Delavan Lake, Walworth Co. 32 feet

7)   Lake Mendota, Dane Co. 30 feet

8)   Pearl Lake, Waushara Co. 30 feet

9)   Forest Lake, Vilas Co. 29.5 feet

10) Big Arbor Vitae Lake, Vilas Co. 29 feet

11) Sugar Camp Lake, Oneida Co. 29 feet

12) Blue Lake, Oneida Co. 29 feet

13) Butternut Lake, Forest Co. 28 feet

14) Lake Owen, Bayfield Co. 27 feet

15) Black Oak Lake, Vilas Co. 27 feet

To see the list from 2020, click here.

What are the Clearest Lakes in Wisconsin? 2019 Report

What are the clearest lakes in Wisconsin?  Every year, I consult with Wisconsin's state-wide citizen's lake monitoring group. They're a network of individuals, usually lake-front property owners who monitor and regularly take a variety of water samples from lakes all across Wisconsin.  The data they compile helps to give us a look at how our lakes are doing. 

One of the many tasks lake monitors perform is to take regular secchi disc readings. This is a universal way of assessing and comparing water clarity.  I'm always interested in knowing which Wisconsin inland lakes are the clearest.  Ordinarily, I rank the lakes that recorded the highest average water clarity for the previous year. This year, I'm looking at lakes that recorded the single highest secchi disc reading in 2019. Here are Wisconsin's clearest inland lakes and their highest single day water clarity readings taken in 2019:

1)   Pine Lake, Waukesha Co. 52 feet
2)   Lake Metonga, Forest Co. 37 feet
3)   Maiden Lake, Oconto Co. 35 feet
4)   Wazee Lake, Jackson Co. 34 feet
5)   Sugar Camp Lake, Oneida Co. 33 feet
6)   Whitefish Lake, Douglas Co. 31 feet
7)   Lake Lucerne, Forest Co. 31 feet
8)   Deer Lake, Polk Co. 30 feet
9)   Crystal Lake, Marquette Co. 29 feet
10) Stone Lake, Washburn Co. 29 feet
11) Lake Owen, Bayfield Co. 29 feet
12) Blue Lake, Oneida Co. 28 feet
13) Smoky Lake, Vilas Co. 28 feet
14) Millicent Lake, Bayfield Co. 28 feet
15) Big Portage Lake, Vilas Co. 28 feet

To see the lake list from 2018, click here. To see the lake list from 2017, click here. To see the lake list from 2016, click here.To see the lake list from 2015, click here.  To see the lake list from 2014, click here.  For the lake list from 2013, click here.  And for the 2012 list of clear lakes, click here.

What are Wisconsin's Clearest Lakes? 2014

I was talking to Jennifer Filbert at the Wisconsin DNR the other day. Jennifer manages the data for the state-wide citizen's lake monitoring group.  They're a network of individuals, usually lake-front property owners who monitor and regularly take a variety of water samples from lakes all across Wisconsin.  The data they compile helps to give us a look at how our lakes are doing. One of the many tasks lake monitors perform is to take regular sechi disc readings.  This is a universal way of assessing and comparing water clarity.  I was interested to know which Wisconsin inland lakes were the clearest.  Jennifer sent me a spreadsheet of some really comprehensive data and I thought it would be interesting to pass this along.  Here are the lakes that recorded the highest average water clarity in 2014. In short-here are Wisconsin's clearest inland lakes and their average water clarity in 2014:

1)  Pine Lake, Waukesha Co. 31 feet
2)  Black Oak Lake, Vilas Co. 30 feet
3)  Hart Lake, Bayfield Co. 30 feet
4)  Whitefish Lake, Douglas Co. 30 feet
5)  Bass Lake, Washburn Co. 30 feet
6)  Des Moines Lake, Burnett Co. 27 feet
7)  Lake Owen, Bayfield Co. 25 feet
8)  Maiden Lake, Oconto Co. 25 feet
9)  Lake Millicent, Bayfield Co. 25 feet
10) Sugar Camp Lake, Oneida Co. 24 feet

To see the lake list from 2013, click here.  For the 2012 list of clear lakes, click here.