Bush Lake

Bush Lake comes in at a B on the grading rubric — a respectable showing for a Minnesota lake of its size and depth. 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.

Trophically, Bush Lake reads as oligotrophic — nutrient-poor, clear, and ecologically more sensitive to disturbance than richer lakes. A maximum depth of 28 ft puts Bush Lake in the middle of Minnesota's depth distribution. Bush Lake covers 171 acres alongside 3.6 miles of shoreline — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Among the 95 graded lakes in Hennepin County, Bush Lake ranks 4 — in the top quartile locally.

Eurasian watermilfoil has been documented at Bush Lake, requiring shoreline management to keep dense mats from crowding native vegetation. The fishery is bass-led, with 12 documented species across the lake's records. Public access is available — the lake is on the Minnesota PCA public-access list. The lake has a partial ice record — 9 observed ice-outs, centered near Apr 8. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.