Vera Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric, Vera Lake pulls an A: clarity at 19.0 ft and phosphorus readings still being added put it in the top bracket for Minnesota.

The lake's low TSI puts it in oligotrophic territory — the cleanest of the four trophic classes, but also the most vulnerable to nutrient-driven shifts. At 55 ft of maximum depth, Vera Lake stratifies reliably through the summer — the hypolimnion stays cooler and clearer than the surface layer suggests. At 250 acres, Vera Lake fits the Minnesota median for monitored lakes, with 6.2 miles of shoreline. Within Lake County's 142 graded waters, Vera Lake sits at rank 15, near the top of the local distribution.

Vera Lake has no invasive species recorded in Minnesota state databases as of 2023, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. The state fisheries records do not list documented species for Vera Lake, which usually reflects a lack of formal fisheries survey work rather than an empty lake. No formal public access is documented at Vera 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.