Wakefield Lake

Wakefield Lake earns a C — middle-of-the-pack water quality, with one or two parameters dragging the average down from a stronger grade. 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.

The lake sits in the mesotrophic zone — the band where most well-managed Minnesota lakes fall. The lake's 69 ft maximum depth is in the upper tier for Minnesota — deep enough for cold-water fish to find refuge in summer. At 164 acres, Wakefield Lake fits the Minnesota median for monitored lakes, with 3.4 miles of shoreline. Wakefield Lake sits at rank 32 of 53 in Aitkin County, in the lower half of the local distribution.

Wakefield Lake has no invasive species recorded in Minnesota state databases as of 2022, though prevention practices still apply at all access points. Walleye are documented at Wakefield Lake, one of 10 fish species on record for the lake. The lake lacks a documented public access point, so visitor use is limited. The grade is based on limited monitoring — fewer than three independent measurement years contribute, so future updates may shift the letter.