Round Lake

Round Lake earns an A — water clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate among the best monitored waters in Sawyer County. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

A TSI value of 30 puts Round Lake in the oligotrophic range, where biological productivity stays low and the water column remains clear. At 74 ft of maximum depth, Round Lake stratifies reliably through the summer — the hypolimnion stays cooler and clearer than the surface layer suggests. At 3,294 acres, Round Lake is one of the larger lakes in Sawyer County, with partial shoreline records supporting multiple distinct use patterns. Within Sawyer County's 52 graded waters, Round Lake sits at rank 5, near the top of the local distribution.

Eurasian watermilfoil has been documented at Round Lake, requiring shoreline management to keep dense mats from crowding native vegetation. Walleye are documented at Round Lake, one of 6 fish species on record for the lake. Public access is available — the lake is on the Wisconsin DNR public-access list. Multiple sampling years from the Wisconsin DNR Citizen Lake Monitoring Network back the grade, so the letter should hold steady absent a major watershed shift.