Best Kayaking Lakes in Minnesota

Top 50 kayaking lakes in Minnesota. Filtered for A or B water quality, public access, and 50-2,000 acres, ranked by Secchi clarity (clearer water makes for better paddling — you can see fish, plants, and the bottom).

Rank	Lake	County	State	Grade	Clarity	Area	Depth
1	Sturgeon Lake	Pine	MN	A	55 ft	1.7K acres	-
2	St James Pit Lake	St. Louis	MN	A	47.6 ft	124.18 acres	381 ft
3	Big Carnelian Lake	Washington	MN	A	46.8 ft	457.03 acres	66 ft
4	Long Lake	Cass	MN	A	46.6 ft	1.0K acres	115 ft
5	Chester Lake	Cook	MN	A	39 ft	51.97 acres	-
6	Sabin Lake	St. Louis	MN	A	35 ft	278.87 acres	52 ft
7	Dunnigan Lake	Lake	MN	A	33.2 ft	81.13 acres	-
8	Divide Lake	Lake	MN	A	33.2 ft	61.11 acres	-
9	Caribou Lake	Itasca	MN	A	31 ft	246.5 acres	152 ft
10	Meander Lake	St. Louis	MN	A	27.9 ft	98.71 acres	-
11	Little Mcdonald Lake	Otter Tail	MN	A	26.9 ft	1.3K acres	109 ft
12	Serpent Lake	Crow Wing	MN	A	25 ft	1.1K acres	65 ft
13	Bad Medicine Lake	Becker	MN	A	25 ft	803.03 acres	84 ft
14	Stony Lake	Cass	MN	A	23.3 ft	563.21 acres	50 ft
15	Potato Lake	Hubbard	MN	A	23 ft	1.6K acres	76 ft
16	Big Sand Lake	Hubbard	MN	A	23 ft	1.6K acres	135 ft
17	Long Lost Lake	Clearwater	MN	A	23 ft	539.04 acres	63 ft
18	Turtle Lake	Becker	MN	A	23 ft	196.39 acres	73 ft
19	Lost Lake	St. Louis	MN	A	23 ft	124.07 acres	44 ft
20	Belle Taine Lake	Hubbard	MN	A	22.8 ft	1.5K acres	56 ft
21	Lone Lake	Aitkin	MN	A	22.7 ft	433.49 acres	60 ft
22	Eagle Lake	Otter Tail	MN	A	22.6 ft	907.4 acres	46 ft
23	West Sylvia Lake	Wright	MN	A	22 ft	904.39 acres	97 ft
24	Long Lake	Cass	MN	A	21.8 ft	1.0K acres	115 ft
25	Big Ole Lake	Itasca	MN	A	21.8 ft	216.95 acres	65 ft
26	Leighton Lake	Itasca	MN	A	21.7 ft	245.45 acres	63 ft
27	Little Jay Gould Lake	Itasca	MN	A	21.5 ft	149.97 acres	56 ft
28	Bearskin Lake	Cook	MN	A	21.3 ft	509.22 acres	78 ft
29	Little Long Lake	St. Louis	MN	A	21 ft	322.24 acres	45 ft
30	Horseshoe Lake	Cass	MN	A	21 ft	260.32 acres	51 ft
31	Larson Lake	Itasca	MN	A	21 ft	208.18 acres	177 ft
32	Beauty Lake	Hubbard	MN	A	21 ft	54.96 acres	53 ft
33	Big Fish Lake	Stearns	MN	A	20.7 ft	557.31 acres	70 ft
34	Mayhew Lake	Cook	MN	A	20.6 ft	220.9 acres	84 ft
35	Big Watab Lake	Stearns	MN	A	20.5 ft	245.56 acres	123 ft
36	Six Lake	Otter Tail	MN	A	20.2 ft	196.53 acres	140 ft
37	Thunder Lake	Cass	MN	A	20 ft	1.3K acres	95 ft
38	Ossawinnamakee Lake	Crow Wing	MN	A	20 ft	711.33 acres	63 ft
39	Lower Hay Lake	Crow Wing	MN	A	20 ft	700.21 acres	100 ft
40	Sybil Lake	Otter Tail	MN	A	20 ft	682.86 acres	74 ft
41	Long Lake	Becker	MN	A	20 ft	414.51 acres	61 ft
42	Little Sand Lake	Hubbard	MN	A	20 ft	409.51 acres	80 ft
43	Scalp Lake	Otter Tail	MN	A	20 ft	254.38 acres	90 ft
44	Long Lake	Clearwater	MN	A	20 ft	158.86 acres	80 ft
45	Moon Lake	Douglas	MN	A	20 ft	139.09 acres	38 ft
46	Boot Lake	Becker	MN	A	19.5 ft	385.1 acres	109 ft
47	Mary Lake	Hubbard	MN	A	19.5 ft	235.22 acres	48 ft
48	Emma Lake	Hubbard	MN	A	19.5 ft	78.43 acres	50 ft
49	East Silent Lake	Otter Tail	MN	A	19.4 ft	323.6 acres	48 ft
50	Big Bass Lake	Hubbard	MN	A	19.4 ft	132.5 acres	60 ft

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