Lower Hay Lake

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

Trophically, Lower Hay Lake reads as oligotrophic — nutrient-poor, clear, and ecologically more sensitive to disturbance than richer lakes. Lower Hay Lake is unusually deep for Minnesota at 100 ft, which buffers the lake against summer warming and helps the deep water stay oxygenated. Lower Hay Lake covers 700 acres alongside 4.4 miles of shoreline — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Within Crow Wing County's 120 graded waters, Lower Hay Lake sits at rank 2, near the top of the local distribution.

Zebra mussel presence at Lower Hay Lake means the lake's clarity numbers carry an asterisk — filtered water is not the same as nutrient-poor water. The fishery includes walleye alongside the lake's other 21 documented species — a notable draw for Minnesota anglers. A documented public access point at Lower Hay Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. Ice-out has been logged at Lower Hay Lake more than two dozen times, putting the median around Apr 20 — a useful baseline for tracking climate trends. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.