Potato Lake
Rusk County, WisconsinView mapDirections
Wisconsin DNR publishes the water-quality measurements for Potato Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- 35 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Potato Lake in Rusk County, Wisconsin has water-quality measurements published by Wisconsin DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3 ft visibility.
Potato Lake is a lake in Rusk County, Wisconsin with an estimated average depth of about 35 feet. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 2 public boat landings.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Wisconsin DNR Surface Water, last sampled 2026-07-12. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Potato Lake has 2 public boat landings, so a lakefront rental is not the only way to get a boat on the water. For a place on the water, look through cabin and lake-house rentals near Potato Lake on Vrbo. For a hotel or motel room, Booking.com and Expedia both search around the lake.
What Potato Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch2 documented ramps
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Potato Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Potato Lake
These are the measurements Wisconsin DNR publishes for Potato Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Very murky, less than 3 ft of visibility. TSI 61.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 3ft | 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. | 61 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Potato Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
DNR Reports & Resources
Wisconsin DNR Fisheries scientists publish multi-year survey reports for Potato Lake covering fish populations, stocking, water quality, and management. 1 report on file.
These links open on the official state DNR websites (Wisconsin DNR survey PDFs · Minnesota DNR LakeFinder).
- 2021Potato Lake netting and shocking survey 2019, 2021Netting Survey · WI DNR · 2021 (PDF)
Lake Details
Max depth
~35 ft est.
Public access
Yes
Listed by Wisconsin DNR
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Wisconsin has not published bathymetry for Potato Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
34 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
509 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
7.6 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,073 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.
Recreation & Access
- Potato LakePublic
- Potato LakePublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Potato Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Potato Lake in Rusk County, Wisconsin — live availability and prices for your trip. Switch the map to Satellite to see the lake and how close each stay is to the water.
Top-rated places to stay near Potato Lake
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Fishing Potato Lake
Nearby Lakes in Rusk County
Frequently asked questions about Potato Lake
Where is Potato Lake?
- Potato Lake is a lake in Rusk County, Wisconsin. Its water-quality measurements are published by Wisconsin DNR and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Potato Lake?
- Potato Lake in Rusk County, Wisconsin has water-quality measurements published by Wisconsin DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3 ft visibility.
Is Potato Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Potato Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Potato Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 35 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.
Are there boat ramps on Potato Lake?
- Potato Lake has 2 documented boat landings in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Potato Lake, Potato Lake. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Potato Lake?
- Potato Lake has 2 documented boat landings in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Wisconsin's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
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Where this data comes from
17 measurements from 2 monitoring stations, 2026. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
WIDNR_WQX17 samples · 2026
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)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory