Sugarbush Lake

Sugarbush Lake earns an A — water clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate among the best monitored waters in Vilas County. 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.

Trophically, Sugarbush Lake reads as oligotrophic — nutrient-poor, clear, and ecologically more sensitive to disturbance than richer lakes. A maximum depth of 29 ft puts Sugarbush Lake in the middle of Wisconsin's depth distribution. The lake's 141 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. Sugarbush Lake ranks 45 of 202 in Vilas County, putting it in the upper tier of locally monitored lakes.

Sugarbush Lake has at least one documented invasive species (Rusty Crayfish), so boaters and anglers should observe clean-drain-dry steps when leaving the lake. Walleye are documented at Sugarbush Lake, one of 6 fish species on record for the lake. 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.