Ran into a kiter from Fairmont who asked if I had ever kited Heron Lake near Lakefield. I told him that I had not heard of it. He told me that it was a big lake was a sand bar at a park that was perfect for kiting. So Jesse and I checked it out, and he was right. Looked rideable in almost any direction, the sand bar goes out at least 300 feet, and it looked as if the whole thing is shallow and sandy. On NW days there would be about a 3-4 mile fetch from the park. And there is only a primitive ramp, so no big boats if any. We both rode it and it was quite nice. The only problem is the lake seems quite polluted. Does anyone from Worthington or anywhere else have any info on this? Are my legs going to fall off?
Casey
Heron Lake
Moderator: MK
What road or area of the lake do you access from. I can't find any roads that actually go all the way to the lake. Did you access in the SE corner? That looks like where sand bar is. Looks like there is little if any developement along shore. In the windy area of state also. Looks like a great place for kiting.
Your distances may be a little exaggerated though. My map software shows 1.6 miles from NW to SE.
The Minnesota DNR has quite a bit of info on Heron Lake. http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/rprp/heronlake/index.html
This article http://www.greatlakesdirectory.org/mn/1216lake.htm gives an extensive history of the lake which is very interesting. The pollution is from farm runoff & is mostly silt although Worthington reportedly sends 2 million gallons a day of waste water into a creek that empties into the lake. Sound high. I presume that is treated and is not raw sewage! I feel llike I just completed one of my 5th graders reports, did I get an A?
Your distances may be a little exaggerated though. My map software shows 1.6 miles from NW to SE.
The Minnesota DNR has quite a bit of info on Heron Lake. http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/rprp/heronlake/index.html
This article http://www.greatlakesdirectory.org/mn/1216lake.htm gives an extensive history of the lake which is very interesting. The pollution is from farm runoff & is mostly silt although Worthington reportedly sends 2 million gallons a day of waste water into a creek that empties into the lake. Sound high. I presume that is treated and is not raw sewage! I feel llike I just completed one of my 5th graders reports, did I get an A?
If you take route 20 west from Lakefield, follow the signs to Sandy Point Park. Go into that park and look for the lake access. They have a path mowed or trimmed back about 4 feet from the lake from that ramp out to the point. It's about 100 yard hike with lots of skeeters (bring the off if you go). You can't see that it's mowed until you actually walk down the ramp.
There are actually two seperate lakes. North and South. We could not find any roads to the north lake. A map at Sandy Point Park showed no public land on the north lake. Is that the one that measured 1.6 miles? The south lake looked longer than 1.6 miles. I could be wrong.
I found this in regards to the pollution there.
http://www.startribune.com/stonline/images/ news82/2heronlake.e.pdf
Looks like farm run-off and all of Worthington'
There are actually two seperate lakes. North and South. We could not find any roads to the north lake. A map at Sandy Point Park showed no public land on the north lake. Is that the one that measured 1.6 miles? The south lake looked longer than 1.6 miles. I could be wrong.
I found this in regards to the pollution there.
http://www.startribune.com/stonline/images/ news82/2heronlake.e.pdf
Looks like farm run-off and all of Worthington'
We'll try that again with everything.
If you take route 20 west from Lakefield, follow the signs to Sandy Point Park. Go into that park and look for the lake access. They have a path mowed or trimmed back about 4 feet from the lake from that ramp out to the point. It's about 100 yard hike with lots of skeeters (bring the off if you go). You can't see that it's mowed until you actually walk down the ramp.
There are actually two separate lakes. North and South. We could not find any roads to the north lake. A map at Sandy Point Park showed no public land on the north lake. Is that the one that measured 1.6 miles? The south lake stretches nearly from Lakefield to Okabena which mapquest has at 8.7 miles. I could be wrong though.
I found this in regards to the pollution there.
http://www.startribune.com/stonline/images/ news82/2heronlake.e.pdf
Looks like farm run-off and all of Worthington's waste water end up there. The water had almost a lime green tint to it. It appears that this was a pristine place at one time that has all but been destroyed.
It was the best setup for kiteboarding that I've seen in this area disregarding the water quality. We plan hitting Heron on big NW days (unless my feet rot away from this trip) as it’s only 24 miles from the north side of Spirit. Would be a great spot to get some pictures boosting over the point or learning. Sandy Point Park looks like a very well maintained park with camping.
Casey
If you take route 20 west from Lakefield, follow the signs to Sandy Point Park. Go into that park and look for the lake access. They have a path mowed or trimmed back about 4 feet from the lake from that ramp out to the point. It's about 100 yard hike with lots of skeeters (bring the off if you go). You can't see that it's mowed until you actually walk down the ramp.
There are actually two separate lakes. North and South. We could not find any roads to the north lake. A map at Sandy Point Park showed no public land on the north lake. Is that the one that measured 1.6 miles? The south lake stretches nearly from Lakefield to Okabena which mapquest has at 8.7 miles. I could be wrong though.
I found this in regards to the pollution there.
http://www.startribune.com/stonline/images/ news82/2heronlake.e.pdf
Looks like farm run-off and all of Worthington's waste water end up there. The water had almost a lime green tint to it. It appears that this was a pristine place at one time that has all but been destroyed.
It was the best setup for kiteboarding that I've seen in this area disregarding the water quality. We plan hitting Heron on big NW days (unless my feet rot away from this trip) as it’s only 24 miles from the north side of Spirit. Would be a great spot to get some pictures boosting over the point or learning. Sandy Point Park looks like a very well maintained park with camping.
Casey
Last edited by cp2616 on Tue Jul 15, 2003 12:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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scottchapman
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scottchapman
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more DNR info
The lake water quality info from the DNR can be found here:
http://data.pca.state.mn.us/cgi-bin/lkw ... 32-0057-07
It says swimming is "non-supported". It also contains a note about treated waste water runoff. I read their blurb on how they determine swimmability and it appears to be just the water clarity (amount of algal blooms). The secchi disk reading is only .2 meters for Heron. So if you lower a shiny piece of metal in Heron's waters, it will disappear from sight just 7 inches down
By comparison, Lake Pepin is 1.0 meters and Waconia 1.9 meters.
http://data.pca.state.mn.us/cgi-bin/lkw ... 32-0057-07
It says swimming is "non-supported". It also contains a note about treated waste water runoff. I read their blurb on how they determine swimmability and it appears to be just the water clarity (amount of algal blooms). The secchi disk reading is only .2 meters for Heron. So if you lower a shiny piece of metal in Heron's waters, it will disappear from sight just 7 inches down
By comparison, Lake Pepin is 1.0 meters and Waconia 1.9 meters.
I often lurk here and don't post too much but thought I would offer a couple things here. By trade I am a licensed engineer and specialize in wastewater treatment. I glanced at that article the link was provided to and it stated that Worthington discharges approx 2 mgd/day. I find that unlikely unless Worthington receives sewage from a neighboring community. What is the population of Worthington? I thought it was about 2k or so, and if it is, it is more likely that its discharge is in the range of 300,000 gallons per day on average. Considerably less than stated in the article. Considering this small volume, and the fact that it flows several miles before reaching the lake, I do not think the discharge of treated wastewater effluent from the town of Worthington would impair the water quality of the lake in any manner.
Perhaps one of the biggest impacts on the water quality may be the carp. We had carp get in our duck marsh in northern Iowa about 8 years ago and they have since destroyed the water quality, as well as the vegetation. We used to have an abundant crop of wild rice but now we have none and the cattails are gradually receding.
Also if it is shallow that does not help as the water temp raises and oxygen demand from organic matter in the water increases thereby reducing the amount of Disolved Oxygen in the water.
Maybe the best thing to do would be to take a water sample from the middle of the lake and have it tested for fecal coliform.
Just my 2 cents,
Chad
Perhaps one of the biggest impacts on the water quality may be the carp. We had carp get in our duck marsh in northern Iowa about 8 years ago and they have since destroyed the water quality, as well as the vegetation. We used to have an abundant crop of wild rice but now we have none and the cattails are gradually receding.
Also if it is shallow that does not help as the water temp raises and oxygen demand from organic matter in the water increases thereby reducing the amount of Disolved Oxygen in the water.
Maybe the best thing to do would be to take a water sample from the middle of the lake and have it tested for fecal coliform.
Just my 2 cents,
Chad