Best Kayaking Lakes in Minnesota, Clean Water + Public Access, LakeQuality

Kayaking-friendly rankings prefer lakes with low motor-boat congestion, interesting shoreline, decent water clarity, and public access. St James Pit Lake (A) tops the Minnesota list.

Kayaking favors lakes with shoreline interest — bays, islands, undeveloped stretches — which tends to correlate with the larger, more remote Minnesota lakes rather than the small, residential ones.

Rank	Lake	County	State	Grade	Clarity	Area	Depth
1	St James Pit Lake	St. Louis	MN	A	47.6 ft	124 acres	381 ft
2	Caribou Lake	Itasca	MN	A	31 ft	247 acres	152 ft
3	Hunter Lake	Cass	MN	A	31 ft	182 acres	48 ft
4	Clearwater Lake	Cook	MN	A	29 ft	462 acres	65 ft
5	Three Island Lake	Itasca	MN	A	29 ft	250 acres	66 ft
6	Kerbs Lake	Otter Tail	MN	A	27.7 ft	-	-
7	Little Mcdonald Lake	Otter Tail	MN	A	26.5 ft	1,316 acres	109 ft
8	South Lake	Cook	MN	A	26 ft	1,145 acres	140 ft
9	Serpent Lake	Crow Wing	MN	A	25 ft	1,116 acres	65 ft
10	Bad Medicine Lake	Becker	MN	A	25 ft	803 acres	84 ft
11	Iron Chief Complex Lake	St. Louis	MN	A	24.5 ft	207 acres	262.1 ft
12	Little Wabana Lake	Itasca	MN	A	24 ft	116 acres	57 ft
13	Sagamore Mine Lake	Crow Wing	MN	A	23.8 ft	119 acres	210 ft
14	Miner'S Pit West Lake	St. Louis	MN	A	23.1 ft	141 acres	140 ft
15	Big Sand Lake	Hubbard	MN	A	23 ft	1,639 acres	135 ft
16	Stony Lake	Cass	MN	A	23 ft	563 acres	50 ft
17	Turtle Lake	Becker	MN	A	23 ft	196 acres	73 ft
18	Lost Lake	St. Louis	MN	A	23 ft	124 acres	44 ft
19	Belle Taine Lake	Hubbard	MN	A	22.8 ft	1,497 acres	56 ft
20	Eagle Lake	Otter Tail	MN	A	22.6 ft	907 acres	46 ft
21	Lone Lake	Aitkin	MN	A	22.5 ft	433 acres	60 ft
22	West Sylvia Lake	Wright	MN	A	22 ft	904 acres	97 ft
23	Long Lost Lake	Clearwater	MN	A	22 ft	539 acres	63 ft
24	Little Trout Lake	Itasca	MN	A	22 ft	86 acres	80 ft
25	Big Ole Lake	Itasca	MN	A	21.8 ft	217 acres	65 ft
26	Leighton Lake	Itasca	MN	A	21.7 ft	245 acres	63 ft
27	Long Lake	Cass	MN	A	21.5 ft	1,007 acres	115 ft
28	Long Lake	Cass	MN	A	21.5 ft	1,007 acres	115 ft
29	Little Jay Gould Lake	Itasca	MN	A	21.5 ft	150 acres	56 ft
30	Bearskin Lake	Cook	MN	A	21 ft	509 acres	78 ft
31	Little Long Lake	St. Louis	MN	A	21 ft	322 acres	45 ft
32	Portage Lake	Cass	MN	A	21 ft	277 acres	84 ft
33	Horseshoe Lake	Cass	MN	A	21 ft	260 acres	51 ft
34	Larson Lake	Itasca	MN	A	21 ft	208 acres	177 ft
35	Six Lake	Otter Tail	MN	A	21 ft	197 acres	140 ft
36	Moon Lake	Douglas	MN	A	21 ft	139 acres	38 ft
37	Beauty Lake	Hubbard	MN	A	21 ft	55 acres	53 ft
38	Lone Lake	Cook	MN	A	21 ft	-	-
39	Swenson Lake	Beltrami	MN	A	20.7 ft	412 acres	76 ft
40	Mayhew Lake	Cook	MN	A	20.6 ft	221 acres	84 ft
41	Big Watab Lake	Stearns	MN	A	20.5 ft	246 acres	123 ft
42	Long Lake	Clearwater	MN	A	20.5 ft	159 acres	80 ft
43	North Union Lake	Douglas	MN	A	20.3 ft	118 acres	42 ft
44	Thunder Lake	Cass	MN	A	20 ft	1,347 acres	95 ft
45	Ossawinnamakee Lake	Crow Wing	MN	A	20 ft	711 acres	63 ft
46	Sybil Lake	Otter Tail	MN	A	20 ft	683 acres	74 ft
47	Big Fish Lake	Stearns	MN	A	20 ft	557 acres	70 ft
48	Little Sand Lake	Hubbard	MN	A	20 ft	410 acres	80 ft
49	Scalp Lake	Otter Tail	MN	A	20 ft	254 acres	90 ft
50	Sand Lake	Cass	MN	A	20 ft	149 acres	54 ft

All-states list →Wisconsin version →Illinois version →Michigan version →All Minnesota lakes →

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Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.