Big Hurst Lake

Big Hurst Lake earns an A — water clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate among the best monitored waters in Vilas County. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

Trophically, Big Hurst Lake reads as oligotrophic — nutrient-poor, clear, and ecologically more sensitive to disturbance than richer lakes. Big Hurst Lake reaches 44 ft at its deepest point — typical for Wisconsin mid-sized lakes, with seasonal stratification but limited cold-water refuge. The lake is compact at 47 acres, with partial shoreline records and little volume to buffer nutrient inputs. Big Hurst Lake sits at rank 136 of 202 in Vilas County, in the lower half of the local distribution.

Big Hurst Lake has no invasive species recorded in Wisconsin state databases as of 2025, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. Walleye are documented at Big Hurst Lake, one of 3 fish species on record for the lake. 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.