Shadow Lake

Shadow Lake sits at the top of the Wisconsin DNR grading rubric with an A, a mark reached by the cleanest lakes in Wisconsin. 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.

The lake sits in the mesotrophic zone — the band where most well-managed Wisconsin lakes fall. The lake's maximum depth is not yet documented in state morphometric records — context for its physical structure remains limited. The lake is compact at 24 acres, with partial shoreline records and little volume to buffer nutrient inputs. Among the 66 graded lakes in Oconto County, Shadow Lake sits at rank 17, above the county median.

No invasive species are currently listed at Shadow Lake — the lake remains off the Wisconsin infested-waters roster. Bass fishing is part of the appeal: the species list runs to 3, anchored by largemouth and/or smallmouth bass. Public access is available — the lake is on the Wisconsin DNR public-access list. 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.