Upper Red Lake: East Central

Upper Red Lake: East Central earns a D — measurements through 2025 show persistent nutrient pressure that limits clarity through the summer. Secchi readings are the weakest of the scored parameters, suggesting suspended sediment or algal biomass dominates the optical signal.

At a TSI of 62, Upper Red Lake: East Central reads as eutrophic — nutrient-rich enough that summer algal growth and reduced clarity are expected, not unusual. The lake bottoms out at 15 ft — a moderate depth that supports a warm-water fishery without the year-round cold refuge a deeper basin provides. With 119,294 acres of surface and 59.2 miles of shoreline, Upper Red Lake: East Central is a large water by Minnesota standards — recreational pressure is spread across a long shoreline. Within the 92 graded lakes of Beltrami County, Upper Red Lake: East Central sits at rank 89, near the bottom of the county list.

Starry stonewort has been recorded at Upper Red Lake: East Central — a relatively new invasive in Minnesota that forms dense, hard-to-remove mats. The fishery includes walleye among the lake's 15 documented species — a notable draw for Minnesota anglers. No formal public access is documented at Upper Red Lake: East Central — most use is by shoreline residents and their guests. Ice-out has been recorded 16 times at Upper Red Lake: East Central, with a median around Apr 29. 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.