Swede Lake

Swede Lake sits at the top of the Wisconsin DNR grading rubric with an A, a mark reached by the cleanest lakes in Wisconsin. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

Trophically, Swede Lake reads as oligotrophic — nutrient-poor, clear, and ecologically more sensitive to disturbance than richer lakes. A maximum depth of 32 ft puts Swede Lake in the middle of Wisconsin's depth distribution. At 66 acres, Swede Lake sits below the Wisconsin median: a small water where shoreline activity has an outsized effect on water quality. Within Polk County's 77 graded waters, Swede Lake sits at rank 12, near the top of the local distribution.

An invasive species record — Chinese Mystery Snail — has been logged at Swede Lake; Wisconsin DNR maintains the official infested-waters list. Bass fishing is part of the appeal: the species list runs to 2, anchored by largemouth and/or smallmouth bass. A documented public access point at Swede Lake makes the lake usable for shore fishing, paddle craft, and trailered boats. 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.