Lake of the Clouds

Lake of the Clouds comes in at a B on the grading rubric — a respectable showing for a Minnesota lake of its size and depth. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

Mesotrophic conditions dominate at Lake of the Clouds: enough nutrients for a healthy fishery, not so much that algal blooms become a chronic problem. The lake's 110 ft maximum depth is in the upper tier for Minnesota — deep enough for cold-water fish to find refuge in summer. The lake is compact at 29 acres, with 1.5 miles of shoreline and little volume to buffer nutrient inputs. Lake of the Clouds ranks 68 of 142 in Lake County — solidly in the upper half of the local distribution.

No invasive species are currently listed at Lake of the Clouds — the lake remains off the Minnesota infested-waters roster. The state fisheries records do not list documented species for Lake of the Clouds, which usually reflects a lack of formal fisheries survey work rather than an empty lake. No formal public access is documented at Lake of the Clouds — most use is by shoreline residents and their guests. 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.