Papoose Lake
Lake County, MinnesotaView mapDirections
Minnesota PCA publishes the water-quality measurements for Papoose Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- 34 ft max depth
- Limited data
Papoose Lake in Lake County, Minnesota has water-quality measurements published by Minnesota PCA, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 6 ft visibility.
Papoose Lake is a lake in Lake County, Minnesota with an estimated average depth of about 34 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Minnesota DNR LakeFinder, last sampled 2022-08-12. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Papoose Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota DNR and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Papoose Lake
These are the measurements Minnesota PCA publishes for Papoose Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Murky, only visible to about 6 ft. TSI 51.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 6ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | No reading The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. | |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | No reading The green pigment in algae — a direct measure of how much algae is in the water. | |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 51 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Papoose Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~34 ft est.
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Minnesota has not published bathymetry for Papoose Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
4 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
35 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
0.9 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,273 ft
Size, shoreline, and watershed area from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS). Mean depth here is modelled, not surveyed — HydroLAKES v1.0 estimates lake depth from surrounding terrain rather than from soundings. Treat it as an approximation, and prefer a state bathymetric survey where one exists.
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Stays near Papoose Lake
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Fishing Papoose Lake
Water quality readings over time
3 seasons of samples on record (2021–2025). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Worsening3 years
Nearby Lakes in Lake County
Frequently asked questions about Papoose Lake
Where is Papoose Lake?
- Papoose Lake is a lake in Lake County, Minnesota. Its water-quality measurements are published by Minnesota PCA and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Papoose Lake?
- Papoose Lake in Lake County, Minnesota has water-quality measurements published by Minnesota PCA, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 6 ft visibility.
Is Papoose Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Papoose Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Papoose Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 34 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.
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Where this data comes from
3 measurements from 2 monitoring stations, 2021–2022. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Minnesota Pollution Control Agency - Ambient Surface Water
MNPCA3 samples · 2021–2022
Analytical methods
- Field measurement/observation, generic method
Monitoring station identifiers (2)
EPA condition classes from the National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See where the data comes from and data sources.
Other records on this page
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Lake details from Minnesota DNR LakeFinder