Mud Lake

On the scoring rubric Mud Lake grades a D: clarity at 4.0 ft and phosphorus readings still being added keep it in the lower bracket for Crow Wing County. 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.

Eutrophic conditions are the baseline here: clarity drops noticeably in late summer, and dissolved oxygen near the bottom can become a concern. A maximum depth of 28 ft puts Mud Lake in the middle of Minnesota's depth distribution. At 76 acres, Mud Lake sits below the Minnesota median: a small water where shoreline activity has an outsized effect on water quality. Within the 120 graded lakes of Crow Wing County, Mud Lake sits at rank 116, near the bottom of the county list.

No invasive species are currently listed at Mud Lake — the lake remains off the Minnesota infested-waters roster. The fishery is bass-led, with 11 documented species across the lake's records. No formal public access is documented at Mud Lake — most use is by shoreline residents and their guests. 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.