Elliot Lake

Elliot Lake earns a C — middle-of-the-pack water quality, with one or two parameters dragging the average down from a stronger grade. Clarity is the limiting factor — phosphorus is reasonable but suspended particles or algal cells keep water transparency below Minnesota norms.

A TSI near 49 places Elliot Lake in the mesotrophic band — moderate productivity, with seasonal swings between clearer spring water and richer late-summer conditions. At only 13 ft deep, Elliot Lake is shallow — wind keeps the water column mixed and sediment resuspension drives phosphorus levels harder to manage. Elliot Lake covers 373 acres alongside 4.3 miles of shoreline — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Within St. Louis County's 187 graded lakes, Elliot Lake ranks 105 — below the local median, though not at the bottom.

Elliot Lake has no invasive species recorded in Minnesota state databases as of 2020, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. The fishery is bass-led, with 11 documented species across the lake's records. Public access is available — the lake is on the Minnesota PCA public-access list. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.