Elton Lake

Elton Lake pulls a D on the LakeGrade rubric — phosphorus loading and limited clarity hold it below the Minnesota average. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

At a TSI of 51, Elton Lake reads as eutrophic — nutrient-rich enough that summer algal growth and reduced clarity are expected, not unusual. At 53 ft of maximum depth, Elton Lake stratifies reliably through the summer — the hypolimnion stays cooler and clearer than the surface layer suggests. Elton Lake covers 124 acres alongside 5.3 miles of shoreline — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Elton Lake ranks 136 of 142 in Lake County — at the lower end of the locally monitored distribution.

No invasive species are currently listed at Elton Lake — the lake remains off the Minnesota infested-waters roster. The state fisheries records do not list documented species for Elton Lake, which usually reflects a lack of formal fisheries survey work rather than an empty lake. The lake lacks a documented public access point, so visitor use is limited. 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.