Walsh Lake

On the LakeGrade rubric, Walsh Lake pulls an A: clarity at 29.5 ft and phosphorus readings still being added put it in the top bracket for Wisconsin. The three sub-grades — clarity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a — track close together, so no single parameter is dragging the average.

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. Walsh Lake reaches 15 ft at its deepest point — typical for Wisconsin mid-sized lakes, with seasonal stratification but limited cold-water refuge. At 45 acres, Walsh Lake sits below the Wisconsin median: a small water where shoreline activity has an outsized effect on water quality. Among the 35 graded lakes in Forest County, Walsh Lake sits at rank 14, above the county median.

No invasive species are currently listed at Walsh Lake — the lake remains off the Wisconsin infested-waters roster. The lake's fish records list 1 species — a varied community without one dominant gamefish. 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.