Sand Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric Sand Lake fails the cutoffs — a TSI of 64 and persistent algal pressure put it in the bottom tier. Sub-grades cluster within a single letter of each other, which usually means the lake is in stable trophic balance rather than fighting one specific stressor.

Eutrophic conditions are the baseline here: clarity drops noticeably in late summer, and dissolved oxygen near the bottom can become a concern. The lake bottoms out at 15 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. Sand Lake covers 209 acres alongside 2.7 miles of shoreline — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Within the 55 graded lakes of Stearns County, Sand Lake sits at rank 49, near the bottom of the county list.

No invasive species are currently listed at Sand Lake — the lake remains off the Minnesota infested-waters roster. The state fisheries records do not list documented species for Sand Lake, which usually reflects a lack of formal fisheries survey work rather than an empty lake. A documented public access point at Sand Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. Ice-out has been recorded 5 times at Sand Lake, with a median around Apr 3. 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.