Grouse Lake

Grouse Lake earns a D — measurements through 2024 show persistent nutrient pressure that limits clarity through the summer. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

Eutrophic conditions are the baseline here: clarity drops noticeably in late summer, and dissolved oxygen near the bottom can become a concern. Grouse Lake is a shallow lake at 11 ft maximum depth, which means it warms quickly, mixes constantly, and amplifies nutrient inputs. Grouse Lake covers 119 acres alongside 3.3 miles of shoreline — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Within the 142 graded lakes of Lake County, Grouse Lake sits at rank 125, near the bottom of the county list.

No invasive species are currently listed at Grouse Lake — the lake remains off the Minnesota infested-waters roster. The fishery includes walleye alongside the lake's other 9 documented species — a notable draw for Minnesota anglers. A documented public access point at Grouse Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. 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.