Serpent Lake

Serpent Lake earns an A — water clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate among the best monitored waters in Crow Wing County. 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.

Trophically, Serpent Lake reads as oligotrophic — nutrient-poor, clear, and ecologically more sensitive to disturbance than richer lakes. Serpent Lake is unusually deep for Minnesota at 65 ft, which buffers the lake against summer warming and helps the deep water stay oxygenated. At 1,116 acres, Serpent Lake is one of the larger lakes in Crow Wing County, with 9.0 miles of shoreline supporting multiple distinct use patterns. Within Crow Wing County's 120 graded waters, Serpent Lake sits at rank 20, near the top of the local distribution.

Serpent Lake is on the Minnesota infested-waters list for zebra mussels — boaters should follow clean-drain-dry protocols when moving gear to or from the lake. Walleye are documented at Serpent Lake, one of 17 fish species on record for the lake. A documented public access point at Serpent Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. Ice-out has been recorded 11 times at Serpent Lake, with a median around Apr 15. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.