Elk Lake

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

The lake sits in the mesotrophic zone — the band where most well-managed Minnesota lakes fall. A maximum depth of 29 ft puts Elk Lake in the middle of Minnesota's depth distribution. At 207 acres, Elk Lake fits the Minnesota median for monitored lakes, with 3.3 miles of shoreline. Elk Lake ranks 1 of 10 in Grant County, putting it in the upper tier of locally monitored lakes.

Elk Lake is on the Minnesota infested-waters list for zebra mussels — boaters should follow clean-drain-dry protocols when moving gear to or from the lake. The fishery includes walleye among the lake's 10 documented species — a notable draw for Minnesota anglers. A documented public access point at Elk Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. The lake has a partial ice record — 8 observed ice-outs, centered near Apr 8. 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.