Cranberry Lake

The LakeGrade rubric puts Cranberry Lake at a C: clarity at 6.7 ft, phosphorus readings still being added, and a TSI of 50 signal an intermediate trophic state. 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. Cranberry Lake is a shallow lake at 8 ft maximum depth, which means it warms quickly, mixes constantly, and amplifies nutrient inputs. The lake is compact at 10 acres, with partial shoreline records and little volume to buffer nutrient inputs. Within Taylor County's 7 graded lakes, Cranberry Lake ranks 5 — below the local median, though not at the bottom.

Cranberry Lake has no invasive species recorded in Wisconsin state databases as of 2022, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. Bass fishing is part of the appeal: the species list runs to 2, anchored by largemouth and/or smallmouth bass. 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.