Oberlin Lake

Oberlin Lake sits at the top of the Wisconsin DNR grading rubric with an A, a mark reached by the cleanest lakes in 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, Oberlin Lake reads as oligotrophic — nutrient-poor, clear, and ecologically more sensitive to disturbance than richer lakes. A maximum depth of 25 ft puts Oberlin Lake in the middle of Wisconsin's depth distribution. Oberlin Lake is small — 42 acres alongside partial shoreline records — which makes it sensitive to even modest changes in watershed runoff or recreational pressure. Oberlin Lake sits at rank 132 of 202 in Vilas County, in the lower half of the local distribution.

Oberlin Lake has no invasive species recorded in Wisconsin state databases as of 2024, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. The fishery is bass-led, with 2 documented species across the lake's records. A documented public access point at Oberlin Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. 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.