Updated August 2026

Best Kayaking Lakes Across 38 States

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

Grade A–B water quality
No known access restrictions
50–2,000 acres

Rank	Lake	County	State	Grade	Clarity	Area	Depth
1	Hunter Lake	Cass	MN	A	31 ft	182 acres	48 ft
2	Kerbs Lake	Otter Tail	MN	A	27.7 ft	-	-
3	Little Mcdonald Lake	Otter Tail	MN	A	26.5 ft	1,316 acres	109 ft
4	Serpent Lake	Crow Wing	MN	A	25 ft	1,116 acres	65 ft
5	Bad Medicine Lake	Becker	MN	A	25 ft	803 acres	84 ft
6	Big Sand Lake	Hubbard	MN	A	23 ft	1,639 acres	135 ft
7	Stony Lake	Cass	MN	A	23 ft	563 acres	50 ft
8	Little Round Lake	Sawyer	WI	A	17.3 ft	179 acres	38 ft
9	Osprey Lake	Sawyer	WI	A	16 ft	214 acres	32 ft
10	Blueberry Lake	Sawyer	WI	A	14.8 ft	292 acres	29 ft
11	Whitefish Lake	Sawyer	WI	A	13.5 ft	800 acres	105 ft
12	Sand Lake	Barron	WI	A	13 ft	-	-
13	Big Cedar Lake-North Site-Near West Bend	Washington	WI	A	11.8 ft	937 acres	105 ft
14	Big Sand Lake	Burnett	WI	A	11 ft	1,434 acres	55 ft
15	Baumann Park Lake	Winnebago	IL	A	10.2 ft	-	-
16	Powderhorn Lake	Cook	IL	A	10.1 ft	-	-
17	Catherine Lake	Lake	IL	A	7.4 ft	-	-
18	Grays Lake	Lake	IL	A	3.5 ft	-	-
19	Cedar Lake	Lake	IL	A	-	-	-
20	Deep Lake	Lake	IL	A	-	-	-
21	Big Twin Lake Southeast Basin; Blue Lake Township	Kalkaska	MI	A	23 ft	-	-
22	Moon Lake Central Basin; Watersmeet Township	Gogebic	MI	A	18 ft	-	-
23	Ellen Lake South Central Basin; Mansfield Township	Iron	MI	A	17 ft	-	-
24	Whitefish Lake Southeast Basin; Pierson Township	Montcalm	MI	A	16 ft	-	-
25	Sunset Lake West Central Basin; Bates Township	Iron	MI	A	15.5 ft	-	-
26	Bills Lake Central Basin	Newaygo	MI	A	15.5 ft	-	-
27	Barnes Lake	Lapeer	MI	A	14.5 ft	110 acres	-
28	Dale Maffitt Reservoir	Dallas	IA	A	9.8 ft	230 acres	-
29	Ada Hayden Heritage Park Lake	Story	IA	A	6.8 ft	-	-
30	Sand Lake	Marshall	IA	A	6.4 ft	-	-
31	South Lake	Herkimer	NY	A	-	499 acres	-
32	Lake Capri	St. Francois	MO	A	16.3 ft	112 acres	-
33	Lake Marseilles-Terre du Lac Lakes	St. Francois	MO	A	14.1 ft	56 acres	-
34	Council Bluff Lake	Iron	MO	A	13.1 ft	-	-
35	Lake Wauwanoka	Jefferson	MO	A	12.9 ft	-	-
36	Alpine Lake	Warren	MO	A	12.6 ft	325 acres	-
37	Port Perry Lake	Perry	MO	A	12 ft	187 acres	-
38	Lake Shayne-Terre du Lac Lakes	Washington	MO	A	11.1 ft	51 acres	-
39	Wheaton Lake	Rolette	ND	A	8.5 ft	164 acres	-
40	Jarvis Lake Center	Rolette	ND	A	7.7 ft	-	-
41	Lake Darling	Renville	ND	A	4.9 ft	-	-
42	Jacc Lake	Walton	FL	A	9.3 ft	-	-
43	Crystal Reservoir	Montrose	CO	A	15.4 ft	301 acres	-
44	Lake John	Jackson	CO	A	13.8 ft	612 acres	-
45	Elkhead Reservoir	Moffat	CO	A	5.2 ft	724 acres	-
46	Boyd Lake	Larimer	CO	A	4.6 ft	1,747 acres	-
47	Lon Hagler Reservoir	Larimer	CO	A	4.6 ft	201 acres	-
48	Douglas Reservoir	Larimer	CO	A	4.1 ft	565 acres	-
49	Highline Lake	Mesa	CO	A	3 ft	155 acres	-
50	Sutton Lake	New Hanover	NC	A	10 ft	1,185 acres	-