Horsehead Lake

Horsehead Lake earns an A — water clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate among the best monitored waters in Vilas County. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

Mesotrophic conditions dominate at Horsehead Lake: enough nutrients for a healthy fishery, not so much that algal blooms become a chronic problem. The lake's maximum depth is not yet documented in state morphometric records — context for its physical structure remains limited. The lake's surface area is not consistently recorded across state datasets — physical context remains partial. Among the 191 graded lakes in Vilas County, Horsehead Lake sits at rank 63, above the county median.

Horsehead Lake has no invasive species recorded in Wisconsin state databases as of 2024, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. The state fisheries records do not list documented species for Horsehead Lake, which usually reflects a lack of formal fisheries survey work rather than an empty lake. 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.