Skull Lake

Skull Lake carries a solid B grade — strong on most parameters, with measurements that hold up well across the summer season.

The lake sits in the mesotrophic zone — the band where most well-managed Minnesota lakes fall. A maximum depth of 38 ft puts Skull Lake in the middle of Minnesota's depth distribution. The lake is compact at 29 acres, with 1.0 miles of shoreline and little volume to buffer nutrient inputs. Within Lake County's 142 graded lakes, Skull Lake ranks 75 — below the local median, though not at the bottom.

No invasive species are currently listed at Skull Lake — the lake remains off the Minnesota infested-waters roster. Bass fishing is part of the appeal: the species list runs to 3, anchored by largemouth and/or smallmouth bass. No formal public access is documented at Skull Lake — most use is by shoreline residents and their guests. 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.