Rhine Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric Rhine Lake fails the cutoffs — a TSI of 64 and persistent algal pressure put it in the bottom tier.

A TSI in the eutrophic range signals a lake doing what nutrient-loaded waters do — supporting an active algal community at the cost of clear water. A maximum depth of just 8 ft means sediment-bound phosphorus releases back into the water column whenever wind stirs the bottom — a classic shallow-lake dynamic. Rhine Lake covers 116 acres alongside 1.9 miles of shoreline — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Rhine Lake ranks 19 of 19 in Pine County — at the lower end of the locally monitored distribution.

Rhine Lake has no invasive species recorded in Minnesota state databases as of 2024, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. 9 fish species are on record, with panfish making up the recreational core. The lake lacks a documented public access point, so visitor use is limited. Ice-out has been recorded 5 times at Rhine Lake, with a median around Apr 11. 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.