Chase Lake

Chase Lake sits at the top of the Minnesota PCA grading rubric with an A, a mark reached by the cleanest lakes in Minnesota.

The lake's low TSI puts it in oligotrophic territory — the cleanest of the four trophic classes, but also the most vulnerable to nutrient-driven shifts. Chase Lake is unusually deep for Minnesota at 95 ft, which buffers the lake against summer warming and helps the deep water stay oxygenated. Chase Lake covers 211 acres alongside 2.9 miles of shoreline — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Among the 141 graded lakes in Itasca County, Chase Lake sits at rank 38, above the county median.

Chase Lake has no invasive species recorded in Minnesota state databases as of 2024, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. Walleye are documented at Chase Lake, one of 10 fish species on record for the lake. No formal public access is documented at Chase 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.