Beth Lake

How big is Beth Lake?

How deep is Beth Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in Beth Lake?

Are there places to eat and drink near Beth Lake?

Beth Lake is 170 acres with a maximum depth of 22 feet and is located 21 miles north of Schroeder completely within the BWCAW. The lake is accessed by one of three portage routes. Alton Lake, to the east, is a 144 rod portage, or about half of a mile. Ella Lake, to the north, is a 72 rod portage, about 0.2 miles. Grace Lake, to the west, is a 285 rod portage, or about 0.9 miles. The half mile portage from Alton Lake crosses the Laurentian divide and is a particularly arduous portage. Four remote campsites are present with latrines and cooking grates.

The 2012 resurvey showed Beth to be a very soft water lake with low fertility. Water quality analysis revealed a secchi disc reading of 14 feet in clear water. Temperature and oxygen remained nearly constant throughout the water column. Substrates were dominated by boulder and interspersed with rubble, gravel and ledge rock. Spawning habitat was rated poor for northern pike, yellow perch and white sucker and good for smallmouth bass. Twenty-one different aquatic plant species or species groups were identified. Vegetation was very sparse and was observed growing to a depth of only 2.5 feet. The majority of submerged or floating leaf vegetation consisted of quillwort, pipewort, water lobelia, floating burreed and water lily. One small inlet with intermittent flow is present on the northwest portion of the lake originating from Ella Lake. The small channel was dry and braided across large boulders at the mouth. One outlet is present on the west end of the lake flowing into Grace Lake.

Beth Lake offers the angler small but plentiful small smallmouth bass. Smallmouth bass gill net catch rates were well above average for the lake class at 13.7/lift. Average size was small at 0.48 pounds/fish. The average length of fish sampled was 9.7 inches with the largest fish only 12.76 inches. Growth of smallmouth bass is slower than average by Finland Area standards. Smallmouth bass are maintained in the lake by natural reproduction with 10 different year classes present during the last sample. However, the majority of the catch (85%) came from three different year classes.

Northern pike gill net catch rate was well below average both in numbers and size, 0.5/lift and 0.8 pounds/fish. Average length was 15.7 inches with the largest fish only 17.9 inches. All three fish that were sampled were two years old and growth was average by Finland Area standards.

White sucker and yellow perch were also sampled but in very low numbers. All anglers on Beth Lake must abide by BWCAW regulations at all times; the lake is entirely non-motorized.

Are there any state parks near Beth Lake?