Alpine Lake

Alpine Lake carries a solid B grade — strong on most parameters, with measurements that hold up well across the summer season.

Mesotrophic conditions dominate at Alpine Lake: enough nutrients for a healthy fishery, not so much that algal blooms become a chronic problem. Alpine Lake is unusually deep for Minnesota at 65 ft, which buffers the lake against summer warming and helps the deep water stay oxygenated. At 909 acres, Alpine Lake fits the Minnesota median for monitored lakes, with 23.9 miles of shoreline. Alpine Lake ranks 54 of 128 in Cook County — solidly in the upper half of the local distribution.

Alpine Lake has no invasive species recorded in Minnesota state databases as of 2023, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. The state fisheries records do not list documented species for Alpine Lake, which usually reflects a lack of formal fisheries survey work rather than an empty lake. No formal public access is documented at Alpine Lake — most use is by shoreline residents and their guests. Monitoring depth is thin here: the LakeGrade rubric is applied to a small number of sample years, and the grade will be revised as more data accumulates.