Elbow Lake
Cook County, Minnesota522 acresView mapDirections
No nutrient or algae sampling on record from Minnesota PCA for this lake.
- Impaired · Mercury
- 23 ft max depth
Elbow Lake in Cook County, Minnesota has water-quality measurements published by Minnesota PCA, shown here as reported. Maximum depth: 23 ft. Surface area: 522 acres.
Elbow Lake is a 522-acre lake in Cook County, Minnesota with a maximum depth of 23 feet.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Minnesota DNR LakeFinder. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
No readingNot rated
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Elbow Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Elbow Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota DNR and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Elbow Lake
These are the measurements Minnesota PCA publishes for Elbow Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
No clarity data. TSI undefined.
Ask about Elbow Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
23 ft
Surface area
522 acres
Shoreline
8.6 mi
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Fishing Elbow Lake
EPA Impairment Status
Elbow Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 4A).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Fish consumption.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit MN16-0805-01 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Cook County
Frequently asked questions about Elbow Lake
Where is Elbow Lake?
- Elbow Lake is a lake in Cook County, Minnesota. Its water-quality measurements are published by Minnesota PCA and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Elbow Lake?
- Elbow Lake in Cook County, Minnesota has water-quality measurements published by Minnesota PCA, shown here as reported. Maximum depth: 23 ft. Surface area: 522 acres.
Is Elbow Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Elbow Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Elbow Lake?
- Elbow Lake has a maximum depth of 23 feet. The lake covers 522 acres.
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Where this data comes from
Measurements for Elbow Lake come from the EPA Water Quality Portal. Per-sample source details are not recorded for this lake.
Other records on this page
Impairment status from EPA ATTAINS 303(d) database
Lake details from Minnesota DNR LakeFinder