Sunshine Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric, Sunshine Lake pulls an A: clarity at 20.0 ft and phosphorus readings still being added put it in the top bracket for Minnesota. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

Trophically, Sunshine Lake reads as oligotrophic — nutrient-poor, clear, and ecologically more sensitive to disturbance than richer lakes. The lake bottoms out at 37 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. At 79 acres, Sunshine Lake sits below the Minnesota median: a small water where shoreline activity has an outsized effect on water quality. Sunshine Lake ranks 2 of 187 in St. Louis County, putting it in the upper tier of locally monitored lakes.

Sunshine Lake has no invasive species recorded in Minnesota state databases as of 2024, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. The state fisheries records do not list documented species for Sunshine Lake, which usually reflects a lack of formal fisheries survey work rather than an empty lake. The lake lacks a documented public access point, so visitor use is limited. The lake has a partial ice record — 7 observed ice-outs, centered near Apr 24. 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.