Best Kayaking Lakes in Vermont, Clean Water + Public Access

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

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

Rank	Lake	County	State	Grade	Clarity	Area	Depth
1	Sunset Lake	Rutland	VT	A	36.1 ft	-	~49 ft est.
2	Caspian Lake	Orleans	VT	A	29.5 ft	789 acres	~57 ft est.
3	Shadow Lake	Orleans	VT	A	28.9 ft	199 acres	~61 ft est.
4	Maidstone Lake	Essex	VT	A	28.5 ft	800 acres	~57 ft est.
5	Lake Willoughby	Orleans	VT	A	28.2 ft	-	~75 ft est.
6	Lake Elligo	Orleans	VT	A	26.2 ft	-	~65 ft est.
7	Forest Lake	Washington	VT	A	25.6 ft	-	~35 ft est.
8	Seymour Lake	Orleans	VT	A	24.6 ft	1,777 acres	~76 ft est.
9	Echo Lake	Rutland	VT	A	24.3 ft	-	~40 ft est.
10	Echo Lake	Orleans	VT	A	23 ft	508 acres	~45 ft est.
11	Lake Fairlee	Orange	VT	A	21.7 ft	463 acres	~54 ft est.
12	Berlin Pond	Washington	VT	A	21.7 ft	256 acres	~60 ft est.
13	Lake Mirror	Washington	VT	A	21.3 ft	86 acres	~37 ft est.
14	Harveys Lake	Caledonia	VT	A	21 ft	409 acres	~57 ft est.
15	East Long Pond	Washington	VT	A	20.7 ft	177 acres	~63 ft est.
16	Newark Pond	Caledonia	VT	A	20.4 ft	-	~22 ft est.
17	Lake Morey	Orange	VT	A	19.7 ft	-	~52 ft est.
18	Fairfield Pond	Franklin	VT	A	19.7 ft	-	~51 ft est.
19	Little Averill Pond	Essex	VT	A	19.4 ft	483 acres	~36 ft est.
20	Lake Greenwood	Washington	VT	A	18 ft	-	~54 ft est.
21	Lake Dunmore	Addison	VT	A	16.4 ft	985 acres	~57 ft est.
22	Shadow Lake	Essex	VT	A	16.4 ft	-	~42 ft est.
23	Sabin Pond	Washington	VT	A	15.7 ft	-	~35 ft est.
24	Peacham Pond	Caledonia	VT	A	15.6 ft	331 acres	~52 ft est.
25	Lake St. Catherine	Rutland	VT	A	15.4 ft	1,024 acres	-
26	South Pond	Lamoille	VT	A	15.4 ft	109 acres	~40 ft est.
27	Amherst Lake	Windsor	VT	A	15.4 ft	76 acres	~33 ft est.
28	Curtis Pond	Washington	VT	A	15.3 ft	76 acres	~47 ft est.
29	Rescue Lake	Windsor	VT	A	15.1 ft	180 acres	~38 ft est.
30	Lake Hortonia	Rutland	VT	A	14.8 ft	449 acres	~44 ft est.
31	South Pond	Windham	VT	A	14.8 ft	-	~26 ft est.
32	Great Averill Pond	Essex	VT	A	14.3 ft	812 acres	~81 ft est.
33	Halls Lake	Orange	VT	A	13.9 ft	84 acres	~41 ft est.
34	Echo Lake	Windsor	VT	A	13.9 ft	76 acres	-
35	Joes Pond	Caledonia	VT	A	13.5 ft	396 acres	~52 ft est.
36	Lowell Lake	Windham	VT	A	13.5 ft	100 acres	~44 ft est.
37	Green River Reservoir	Lamoille	VT	A	13.1 ft	625 acres	~63 ft est.
38	Lake Groton	Caledonia	VT	A	13.1 ft	414 acres	~43 ft est.
39	Miles Pond	Essex	VT	A	13.1 ft	206 acres	~51 ft est.
40	Lake Salem	Orleans	VT	A	13.1 ft	-	~31 ft est.
41	Lake Parker	Orleans	VT	A	13.1 ft	-	~42 ft est.
42	Lake Eden	Lamoille	VT	A	12.8 ft	186 acres	~54 ft est.
43	Coles Pond	Caledonia	VT	A	11.8 ft	125 acres	~12 ft est.
44	Lake Raponda	Windham	VT	A	11.3 ft	-	-
45	Lake Elmore	Lamoille	VT	A	9.8 ft	-	~41 ft est.
46	Clyde Pond	Orleans	VT	A	9.4 ft	200 acres	~40 ft est.
47	Chipman Lake	Rutland	VT	A	9.4 ft	-	~45 ft est.
48	Lake Ninevah	Rutland	VT	A	8.2 ft	237 acres	~31 ft est.
49	Silver Lake	Addison	VT	A	8.2 ft	110 acres	~40 ft est.
50	Norton Pond	Essex	VT	A	7.9 ft	583 acres	~101 ft est.

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Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.