Esquagama Lake

Esquagama Lake pulls a D on the LakeGrade rubric — phosphorus loading and limited clarity hold it below the Minnesota average. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

At a TSI of 59, Esquagama Lake reads as eutrophic — nutrient-rich enough that summer algal growth and reduced clarity are expected, not unusual. Esquagama Lake is unusually deep for Minnesota at 90 ft, which buffers the lake against summer warming and helps the deep water stay oxygenated. The lake's 453 acres and 5.5 miles of shoreline put it in the mid-range bucket — large enough for varied use, small enough that watershed inputs reach the whole basin. Esquagama Lake ranks 174 of 187 in St. Louis County — at the lower end of the locally monitored distribution.

Esquagama Lake has no invasive species recorded in Minnesota state databases as of 2024, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. Walleye are documented at Esquagama Lake, one of 12 fish species on record for the lake. The lake lacks a documented public access point, so visitor use is limited. Ice-out has been recorded 12 times at Esquagama Lake, with a median around Apr 29. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.