Updated August 2026

Best Kayaking Lakes: Clean Water, Public Access

Top 50 kayaking lakes across our dataset (states without surface-area data contribute fewer entries), ranked by nutrient readings and clarity. Access-restriction data is verified for Minnesota.

Low nutrient and algae readings
No known access restrictions
50–2,000 acres

Rank	Lake	County	State	Clarity	Area	Depth
1	Hunter Lake	Cass	MN	31 ft	182 acres	48 ft
2	Kerbs Lake	Otter Tail	MN	27.7 ft	-	-
3	Little Mcdonald Lake	Otter Tail	MN	26.5 ft	1,316 acres	109 ft
4	Serpent Lake	Crow Wing	MN	25 ft	1,116 acres	65 ft
5	Bad Medicine Lake	Becker	MN	25 ft	803 acres	84 ft
6	Big Sand Lake	Hubbard	MN	23 ft	1,639 acres	135 ft
7	Stony Lake	Cass	MN	23 ft	563 acres	50 ft
8	Little Round Lake	Sawyer	WI	17.3 ft	179 acres	38 ft
9	Osprey Lake	Sawyer	WI	16 ft	214 acres	32 ft
10	Blueberry Lake	Sawyer	WI	14.8 ft	292 acres	29 ft
11	Whitefish Lake	Sawyer	WI	13.5 ft	800 acres	105 ft
12	Sand Lake	Barron	WI	13 ft	-	-
13	Big Cedar Lake-North Site-Near West Bend	Washington	WI	11.8 ft	937 acres	105 ft
14	Big Sand Lake	Burnett	WI	11 ft	1,434 acres	55 ft
15	Baumann Park Lake	Winnebago	IL	10.2 ft	-	-
16	Powderhorn Lake	Cook	IL	10.1 ft	-	-
17	Catherine Lake	Lake	IL	7.4 ft	-	-
18	Grays Lake	Lake	IL	3.5 ft	-	-
19	Cedar Lake	Lake	IL	-	-	-
20	Deep Lake	Lake	IL	-	-	-
21	Bass Lake	Dickinson	MI	21.5 ft	62 acres	58 ft
22	Little Bass Lake	Lake	MI	18.3 ft	53 acres	-
23	Moon Lake	Gogebic	MI	18 ft	95 acres	-
24	Indian Lake	Osceola	MI	18 ft	63 acres	50 ft
25	Lake View	Benzie	MI	18 ft	55 acres	-
26	Ellen Lake	Iron	MI	17.3 ft	140 acres	73 ft
27	Margrethe Lake	Crawford	MI	16 ft	1,920 acres	65 ft
28	Dale Maffitt Reservoir	Dallas	IA	9.8 ft	230 acres	-
29	Ada Hayden Heritage Park Lake	Story	IA	6.8 ft	-	-
30	Sand Lake	Marshall	IA	6.4 ft	-	-
31	Lake Marburg	York	PA	-	1,173 acres	111.5 ft
32	Fairview Lake	Pike	PA	-	192 acres	-
33	Belmont Lake	Wayne	PA	-	173 acres	-
34	Long Pine Run Reservoir	Adams	PA	-	151 acres	-
35	South Lake	Herkimer	NY	-	499 acres	-
36	Lake Capri	St. Francois	MO	16.3 ft	112 acres	-
37	Lake Marseilles-Terre du Lac Lakes	St. Francois	MO	14.1 ft	56 acres	-
38	Council Bluff Lake	Iron	MO	13.1 ft	-	-
39	Lake Wauwanoka	Jefferson	MO	12.9 ft	-	-
40	Alpine Lake	Warren	MO	12.6 ft	325 acres	-
41	Port Perry Lake	Perry	MO	12 ft	187 acres	-
42	Lake Shayne-Terre du Lac Lakes	Washington	MO	11.1 ft	51 acres	-
43	Lake George	Steuben	IN	14.5 ft	538 acres	-
44	Lake Maxinkuckee	Marshall	IN	-	1,910 acres	87.9 ft
45	Lake James	Steuben	IN	-	1,883 acres	56.1 ft
46	Big Long Lake	LaGrange	IN	-	392 acres	82 ft
47	Lake Pleasant	Steuben	IN	-	355 acres	51.8 ft
48	Adams Lake	LaGrange	IN	-	302 acres	90.9 ft
49	Myers Lake	Marshall	IN	-	92 acres	59.1 ft
50	Wheaton Lake	Rolette	ND	8.5 ft	164 acres	-

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