Lone Lake

Lone Lake earns an A — water clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate among the best monitored waters in Clearwater County. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

Trophically, Lone Lake reads as oligotrophic — nutrient-poor, clear, and ecologically more sensitive to disturbance than richer lakes. The lake's 70 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 69 acres, with 2.4 miles of shoreline and little volume to buffer nutrient inputs. Lone Lake ranks 5 of 40 in Clearwater County, putting it in the upper tier of locally monitored lakes.

No invasive species are currently listed at Lone Lake — the lake remains off the Minnesota infested-waters roster. The fishery is bass-led, with 7 documented species across the lake's records. 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.