Pleasant Lake

Pleasant Lake earns a C — middle-of-the-pack water quality, with one or two parameters dragging the average down from a stronger grade. The two scored sub-grades — clarity and phosphorus — track close together, so neither one is dragging the average down.

At a TSI of 56, Pleasant Lake reads as eutrophic — nutrient-rich enough that summer algal growth and reduced clarity are expected, not unusual. The lake's 58 ft maximum depth is in the upper tier for Minnesota — deep enough for cold-water fish to find refuge in summer. At 607 acres, Pleasant Lake fits the Minnesota median for monitored lakes, with 6.0 miles of shoreline. Pleasant Lake ranks 23 of 49 in Ramsey County — solidly in the upper half of the local distribution.

Zebra mussel presence at Pleasant Lake means the lake's clarity numbers carry an asterisk — filtered water is not the same as nutrient-poor water. The fishery includes walleye among the lake's 10 documented species — a notable draw for Minnesota anglers. No formal public access is documented at Pleasant 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.