Little Carnelian Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric, Little Carnelian Lake pulls an A: clarity at 21.0 ft and phosphorus readings still being added put it in the top bracket for Minnesota.

A TSI value of 33 puts Little Carnelian Lake in the oligotrophic range, where biological productivity stays low and the water column remains clear. The lake's 68 ft maximum depth is in the upper tier for Minnesota — deep enough for cold-water fish to find refuge in summer. At 137 acres, Little Carnelian Lake fits the Minnesota median for monitored lakes, with 2.6 miles of shoreline. Little Carnelian Lake ranks 4 of 31 in Washington County, putting it in the upper tier of locally monitored lakes.

Little Carnelian Lake is on the Minnesota infested-waters list for zebra mussels — boaters should follow clean-drain-dry protocols when moving gear to or from the lake. The fishery is bass-led, with 10 documented species across the lake's records. No formal public access is documented at Little Carnelian Lake — 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.