Little Carr Lake

Little Carr Lake sits at the top of the Wisconsin DNR grading rubric with an A, a mark reached by the cleanest lakes in Wisconsin. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

A TSI value of 24 puts Little Carr Lake in the oligotrophic range, where biological productivity stays low and the water column remains clear. The lake bottoms out at 30 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. Little Carr Lake is small — 51 acres alongside partial shoreline records — which makes it sensitive to even modest changes in watershed runoff or recreational pressure. Within Oneida County's 140 graded lakes, Little Carr Lake ranks 75 — below the local median, though not at the bottom.

An invasive species record — Purple Loosestrife — has been logged at Little Carr Lake; Wisconsin DNR maintains the official infested-waters list. The fishery includes walleye alongside the lake's other 4 documented species — a notable draw for Wisconsin anglers. A documented public access point at Little Carr Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.