Lake Laura

Clear Skies, Clear Water

Clear Skies, Clear Water

After a really hot couple of weeks, the water temperatures are climbing quickly.  This weekend I took advantage of that by visiting Lake Laura.

About the Lake:

626 acres
4.8 miles of shoreline
17.9 acres/owner (lake density)
7.3 owners/miles of shoreline (lake density)
43' max depth
18' Clarity
Oligotrophic
Seepage

Lake Laura is located in Plum Lake township, which is northeast of St. Germain, northwest of Eagle River, southwest of Land O Lakes, and southeast of Boulder Junction. Somehow, it's about 25 minutes from all of those towns. So I say it's centrally located in the middle of nowhere.

There are two public launches on the lake. One in the northwest corner of the lake which is just a dirt path off of W. Lake Laura Rd. The better launch is on the southeast corner of the lake (Cty K to Deerfoot Rd). I've heard that this was a tricky launch and that was the case for me too. This is a shallow part of the lake and it just doesn't drop off quick enough. We backed in until the muffler was underwater and then gave the boat a little push to get it off the trailer. I had to get my feet wet, but it really wasn't too bad. When launching here make sure you exercise caution heading out onto the lake because it stays shallow for a while and there are some boulders under the surface.

Main Boat Launch

Second Launch

The cool part about Lake Laura is that there are only 35 owners on the lake (on the east and west sides of the lake) and the rest of the shoreline is state owned. The lake features beautiful water, some large boulders at the shoreline, and a lot of sandy frontage. There isn't a lot of character as it's pretty much oval-shaped, but it's a great lake for swimming and water sports. It must be a good fishing lake, too, as I was surprised to see a handful of boats at the public launch.

Shoreline of Lake Laura

Checking the water clarity is one of my favorite things to do on my lake visits. While they say that you should always check in the deepest part of the lake, the wind was blowing hard so I ended up closer to shore.  The first time I dropped in the secchi disk it was 15' down and it hit bottom before I stopped seeing it. So I went deeper.  This time it was 17' down and it hit bottom again. Deeper again. The third try I got a reading of 18' and then lost sight of it. Very impressive considering last year's best reading was 16'.  I put a video in the video section below.

Getting a secchi disc reading

Jetboarding on the lake was challenging because it was very windy and choppy, but it was also a lot of fun. The water was warm and besides for a few fishermen and a pontoon boat, there weren't many people to avoid. I can't emphasize enough how nice it is to be in a clean lake like this. It looks clean, it feels clean, and it just begs to be enjoyed.

Jetboard on Lake Laura

Currently, there is one vacant lot for sale on the lake. It's an elevated lot with sunset exposure and, of course, sandy frontage. For those looking to build, it's a lot I would recommend checking out. You can check for current listings and you sign up to receive notifications for new listings on Lake Laura here.

If you're coming to the lake from the east you may want to stop at Burnt Bridge Tavern on Cty K for lunch.   Burnt Bridge offers drinks, pizzas, sandwiches, and a tiki bar outside that has a nice view of the river below. It's right on the ATV/UTV and snowmobile trail making it a convenient stop on those rides as well. We enjoyed the pulled pork sandwich and the perch sandwich when we stopped for a late lunch after spending the afternoon on Lake Laura.

Started eating the perch before the picture....ooops!
 

Pictures:

Videos: