Swenson Lake

Swenson Lake earns an A — water clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate among the best monitored waters in Beltrami 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, Swenson Lake reads as oligotrophic — nutrient-poor, clear, and ecologically more sensitive to disturbance than richer lakes. The lake's 76 ft maximum depth is in the upper tier for Minnesota — deep enough for cold-water fish to find refuge in summer. Swenson Lake covers 412 acres alongside 3.6 miles of shoreline — a mid-sized water that supports a working fishery without being so large that conditions diverge between basins. Among the 86 graded lakes in Beltrami County, Swenson Lake ranks 18 — in the top quartile locally.

No invasive species are currently listed at Swenson Lake — the lake remains off the Minnesota infested-waters roster. The fishery includes walleye alongside the lake's other 10 documented species — a notable draw for Minnesota anglers. No formal public access is documented at Swenson 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.