Little Split Hand Lake

Little Split Hand Lake sits at a C on the grading scale — not impaired, not pristine, with summer measurements that vary year to year. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

The lake sits in the mesotrophic zone — the band where most well-managed Minnesota lakes fall. A maximum depth of 25 ft puts Little Split Hand Lake in the middle of Minnesota's depth distribution. At 244 acres, Little Split Hand Lake fits the Minnesota median for monitored lakes, with 2.7 miles of shoreline. Within the 141 graded lakes of Itasca County, Little Split Hand Lake sits at rank 113, near the bottom of the county list.

No invasive species are currently listed at Little Split Hand Lake — the lake remains off the Minnesota infested-waters roster. The fishery includes walleye alongside the lake's other 17 documented species — a notable draw for Minnesota anglers. Public access is available — the lake is on the Minnesota PCA public-access list. The lake has a partial ice record — 8 observed ice-outs, centered near Apr 9. 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.