Side Lake
St. Louis County, MinnesotaView mapDirections
Minnesota PCA publishes the water-quality measurements for Side Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- 28 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Side Lake in St. Louis County, Minnesota has water-quality measurements published by Minnesota PCA, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 5.2 ft visibility.
Side Lake is a lake in St. Louis County, Minnesota with an estimated average depth of about 28 feet. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Minnesota DNR LakeFinder, last sampled 2020-09-29. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Side Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Ice seasonIce-out around Apr 19
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Side Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota DNR and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Side Lake
These are the measurements Minnesota PCA publishes for Side Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Murky, only visible to about 5.2 ft. TSI 53.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 5.2ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | No reading The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. | |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | No reading The green pigment in algae — a direct measure of how much algae is in the water. | |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 53 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Side Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
DNR Reports & Resources
Minnesota DNR LakeFinder publishes lake survey, fish stocking, water access, and aquatic plant data for Side Lake. 1 report on file.
These links open on the official state DNR websites (Wisconsin DNR survey PDFs · Minnesota DNR LakeFinder).
- —Aquatic Plant Report — Side (Bowman) (0532)Aquatic Plant Report · MN DNR LakeFinder
Lake Details
Max depth
~28 ft est.
Public access
Yes
Listed by Minnesota PCA
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Minnesota has not published bathymetry for Side Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
616 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
35 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,322 ft
Size, shoreline, and watershed area from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS). Mean depth here is modelled, not surveyed — HydroLAKES v1.0 estimates lake depth from surrounding terrain rather than from soundings. Treat it as an approximation, and prefer a state bathymetric survey where one exists.
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Side Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Side Lake in St. Louis County, Minnesota — live availability and prices for your trip. Switch the map to Satellite to see the lake and how close each stay is to the water.
Top-rated places to stay near Side Lake
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Fishing Side Lake
Ice season
Typical ice-out
Apr 19
Earliest Apr 9, 1998 · Latest May 4, 1996
Typical ice-in
Nov 18
Earliest Nov 10, 2018 · Latest Dec 20, 2015
Most recent ice-out
Apr 12
2015
16 observations · Minnesota PCA ice records
Nearby Lakes in St. Louis County
Frequently asked questions about Side Lake
Where is Side Lake?
- Side Lake is a lake in St. Louis County, Minnesota. Its water-quality measurements are published by Minnesota PCA and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Side Lake?
- Side Lake in St. Louis County, Minnesota has water-quality measurements published by Minnesota PCA, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 5.2 ft visibility.
Is Side Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Side Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Side Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 28 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.
When does Side Lake thaw?
- Side Lake typically has ice-out around Apr 19. Ice typically forms around Nov 18. The open water season is approximately 213 days.
Can I fish at Side Lake?
- Public access to Side Lake is listed as yes on the lake record. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Minnesota's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Explore Side Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
12 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2020. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Minnesota Pollution Control Agency - Ambient Surface Water
MNPCA12 samples · 2020
Analytical methods
- Field measurement/observation, generic method
Monitoring station identifiers (1)
EPA condition classes from the National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See where the data comes from and data sources.
Other records on this page
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Lake details from Minnesota DNR LakeFinder
Ice data from Minnesota DNR Climate