Silver Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric, Silver Lake pulls an A: clarity at 13.0 ft and 12 µg/L of phosphorus put it in the top bracket for Wisconsin. With clarity and phosphorus scored, the sub-grades cluster within a letter of each other, pointing to stable conditions rather than one specific stressor.

Trophically, Silver Lake reads as oligotrophic — nutrient-poor, clear, and ecologically more sensitive to disturbance than richer lakes. The lake bottoms out at 20 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. The lake's 317 acres and partial shoreline records put it in the mid-range bucket — large enough for varied use, small enough that watershed inputs reach the whole basin. Within Forest County's 34 graded waters, Silver Lake sits at rank 8, near the top of the local distribution.

Eurasian watermilfoil has been documented at Silver Lake, requiring shoreline management to keep dense mats from crowding native vegetation. The fishery includes walleye among the lake's 6 documented species — a notable draw for Wisconsin anglers. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.