Leora Lake

The LakeGrade rubric puts Leora Lake at a C: clarity at 7.0 ft, 46 µg/L of phosphorus, and a TSI of 54 signal an intermediate trophic state. With clarity and phosphorus scored, the sub-grades cluster within a letter of each other, pointing to stable conditions rather than one specific stressor.

At a TSI of 54, Leora Lake reads as eutrophic — nutrient-rich enough that summer algal growth and reduced clarity are expected, not unusual. A maximum depth of 35 ft puts Leora Lake in the middle of Minnesota's depth distribution. The lake's 263 acres and 2.8 miles of shoreline put it in the mid-range bucket — large enough for varied use, small enough that watershed inputs reach the whole basin. Within St. Louis County's 187 graded lakes, Leora Lake ranks 115 — below the local median, though not at the bottom.

Leora Lake has no invasive species recorded in Minnesota state databases as of 2024, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. The fishery includes walleye among the lake's 8 documented species — a notable draw for Minnesota anglers. Public access is available — the lake is on the Minnesota PCA public-access list. 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.