Fox Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric, Fox Lake pulls an A: clarity at 11.2 ft and 14 µg/L of phosphorus put it in the top bracket for Minnesota. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

The lake sits in the mesotrophic zone — the band where most well-managed Minnesota lakes fall. A maximum depth of 19 ft puts Fox Lake in the middle of Minnesota's depth distribution. Fox Lake covers 165 acres alongside 2.3 miles of shoreline — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Fox Lake ranks 42 of 86 in Beltrami County — solidly in the upper half of the local distribution.

No invasive species are currently listed at Fox Lake — the lake remains off the Minnesota infested-waters roster. The state fisheries records do not list documented species for Fox 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. Ice-out has been recorded 6 times at Fox Lake, with a median around Apr 20. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.