Margaret Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric, Margaret Lake pulls an A: clarity at 15.5 ft and 11 µg/L of phosphorus put it in the top bracket for Wisconsin. Sub-grades cluster within a single letter of each other, which usually means the lake is in stable trophic balance rather than fighting one specific stressor.

Trophically, Margaret Lake reads as oligotrophic — nutrient-poor, clear, and ecologically more sensitive to disturbance than richer lakes. Margaret Lake reaches 17 ft at its deepest point — typical for Wisconsin mid-sized lakes, with seasonal stratification but limited cold-water refuge. The lake is compact at 42 acres, with partial shoreline records and little volume to buffer nutrient inputs. Margaret Lake ranks 8 of 74 in Polk County, putting it in the upper tier of locally monitored lakes.

Margaret Lake has no invasive species recorded in Wisconsin state databases as of 2024, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. Bass fishing is part of the appeal: the species list runs to 3, anchored by largemouth and/or smallmouth bass. 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.