Ten Mile Lake

Ten Mile Lake carries a solid B grade — strong on most parameters, with measurements that hold up well across the summer season. Clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a all rate similarly, so there is no obvious single lever to pull on watershed management.

Mesotrophic conditions dominate at Ten Mile Lake: enough nutrients for a healthy fishery, not so much that algal blooms become a chronic problem. At 51 ft of maximum depth, Ten Mile Lake stratifies reliably through the summer — the hypolimnion stays cooler and clearer than the surface layer suggests. Ten Mile Lake covers 1,428 acres alongside 9.7 miles of shoreline, large enough that conditions can vary meaningfully between bays. Ten Mile Lake sits at rank 56 of 97 in Otter Tail County, in the lower half of the local distribution.

Zebra mussels have been documented at Ten Mile Lake, which alters the filter-feeding balance and can paradoxically increase water clarity while disrupting the food web. Walleye are documented at Ten Mile Lake, one of 19 fish species on record for the lake. Public access is available — the lake is on the Minnesota PCA public-access list. The lake has a partial ice record — 6 observed ice-outs, centered near Apr 11. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.