Pickerel Lake

Pickerel Lake sits at the top of the Minnesota PCA grading rubric with an A, a mark reached by the cleanest lakes in Minnesota. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

The lake sits in the mesotrophic zone — the band where most well-managed Minnesota lakes fall. Pickerel Lake is unusually deep for Minnesota at 70 ft, which buffers the lake against summer warming and helps the deep water stay oxygenated. At 241 acres, Pickerel Lake fits the Minnesota median for monitored lakes, with 4.6 miles of shoreline. Pickerel Lake ranks 45 of 141 in Itasca County — solidly in the upper half of the local distribution.

Pickerel Lake has no invasive species recorded in Minnesota state databases as of 2024, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. Walleye are documented at Pickerel Lake, one of 13 fish species on record for the lake. A documented public access point at Pickerel Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. Ice-out has been recorded 8 times at Pickerel Lake, with a median around Apr 20. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.