Big Cedar Lake-South Site-Near West Bend

Big Cedar Lake-South Site-Near West Bend sits at the top of the Wisconsin DNR grading rubric with an A, a mark reached by the cleanest lakes in Wisconsin. Sub-grades cluster within a single letter of each other, which usually means the lake is in stable trophic balance rather than fighting one specific stressor.

The lake sits in the mesotrophic zone — the band where most well-managed Wisconsin lakes fall. At 105 ft of maximum depth, Big Cedar Lake-South Site-Near West Bend stratifies reliably through the summer — the hypolimnion stays cooler and clearer than the surface layer suggests. The lake's 937 acres and partial shoreline records put it in the mid-range bucket — large enough for varied use, small enough that watershed inputs reach the whole basin. Among the 15 graded lakes in Washington County, Big Cedar Lake-South Site-Near West Bend sits at rank 4, above the county median.

Big Cedar Lake-South Site-Near West Bend is on the Wisconsin infested-waters list for zebra mussels — boaters should follow clean-drain-dry protocols when moving gear to or from the lake. The fishery includes walleye alongside the lake's other 4 documented species — a notable draw for Wisconsin anglers. Public access is available — the lake is on the Wisconsin DNR public-access list. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.