Buck Lake

Buck Lake earns an A — water clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate among the best monitored waters in Beltrami County. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

Mesotrophic conditions dominate at Buck Lake: enough nutrients for a healthy fishery, not so much that algal blooms become a chronic problem. A maximum depth of 40 ft puts Buck Lake in the middle of Minnesota's depth distribution. The lake's 360 acres and 5.0 miles of shoreline put it in the mid-range bucket — large enough for varied use, small enough that watershed inputs reach the whole basin. Buck Lake ranks 39 of 95 in Beltrami County — solidly in the upper half of the local distribution.

Zebra mussel presence at Buck Lake means the lake's clarity numbers carry an asterisk — filtered water is not the same as nutrient-poor water. The state fisheries records do not list documented species for Buck Lake, which usually reflects a lack of formal fisheries survey work rather than an empty lake. No formal public access is documented at Buck Lake — most use is by shoreline residents and their guests. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.