Partridge Lake

Partridge Lake sits at the top of the Minnesota PCA grading rubric with an A, a mark reached by the cleanest lakes in Minnesota. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

The lake's low TSI puts it in oligotrophic territory — the cleanest of the four trophic classes, but also the most vulnerable to nutrient-driven shifts. The lake bottoms out at 42 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. Partridge Lake covers 188 acres alongside 3.2 miles of shoreline — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Partridge Lake ranks 10 of 120 in Crow Wing County, putting it in the upper tier of locally monitored lakes.

No invasive species are currently listed at Partridge Lake — the lake remains off the Minnesota infested-waters roster. The fishery is bass-led, with 10 documented species across the lake's records. A documented public access point at Partridge Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.