Stony Lake

Stony Lake earns an A — every scored parameter (clarity) rates among the best monitored waters in Douglas County.

Trophically, Stony Lake reads as oligotrophic — nutrient-poor, clear, and ecologically more sensitive to disturbance than richer lakes. At 58 ft of maximum depth, Stony Lake stratifies reliably through the summer — the hypolimnion stays cooler and clearer than the surface layer suggests. Stony Lake is small — 87 acres alongside 2.0 miles of shoreline — which makes it sensitive to even modest changes in watershed runoff or recreational pressure. Stony Lake ranks 9 of 51 in Douglas County, putting it in the upper tier of locally monitored lakes.

Zebra mussels have been documented at Stony Lake, which alters the filter-feeding balance and can paradoxically increase water clarity while disrupting the food web. The fishery includes walleye among the lake's 10 documented species — a notable draw for Minnesota anglers. No formal public access is documented at Stony 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.