Hennepin County Lake Quality

Minnesota, 95 lakes, average grade D (Poor)

Hennepin County has 95 graded lakes, enough that within-county variation matters as much as the county average. Some are deep glacial basins, others are shallow agricultural-watershed waters, and the grade distribution reflects that mix. On average, Hennepin County lakes grade D, with phosphorus loading and reduced clarity showing up across most of the dataset.

The county's lakes lean shallow, which makes the grades sensitive to wind, sediment-resuspension, and any nutrient inputs from the watershed. The cleanest lake on the books is Little Long Lake (A); the most-stressed is Mud Lake (F).

Reviewed by LakeQuality Editorial Team · Updated May 31, 2026

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Quick Answers for Hennepin County

Cleanest lakes in Hennepin County →Cleanest lakes in Minnesota →Safest swimming lakes in Minnesota →

Planning a trip? Check special fishing regulations for Little Long Lake, whether the fish are safe to eat, and the best times to fish — or browse the full Minnesota regulations index.

DNR Reports (126)

Minnesota DNR LakeFinder resources for lakes in Hennepin County. Showing 12 most recent — browse all reports →

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Fisheries Lake Survey — Wirth
Fisheries Lake Survey · MN DNR LakeFinder
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Fisheries Lake Survey — Winterhalter
Fisheries Lake Survey · MN DNR LakeFinder
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Fisheries Lake Survey — Whaletail
Fisheries Lake Survey · MN DNR LakeFinder
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Fisheries Lake Survey — Weaver
Fisheries Lake Survey · MN DNR LakeFinder
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Fisheries Lake Survey — Twin
Fisheries Lake Survey · MN DNR LakeFinder
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Fisheries Lake Survey — Tanager
Fisheries Lake Survey · MN DNR LakeFinder
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Fisheries Lake Survey — Taft
Fisheries Lake Survey · MN DNR LakeFinder
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Fisheries Lake Survey — Sweeney
Fisheries Lake Survey · MN DNR LakeFinder
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Fisheries Lake Survey — Staring
Fisheries Lake Survey · MN DNR LakeFinder
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Fisheries Lake Survey — Spurzem
Fisheries Lake Survey · MN DNR LakeFinder
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Fisheries Lake Survey — Snelling
Fisheries Lake Survey · MN DNR LakeFinder
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Fisheries Lake Survey — Schandell
Fisheries Lake Survey · MN DNR LakeFinder

All Lakes in Hennepin County

Rank	Lake	Grade	Clarity	Max Depth	Phosphorus
1	Little Long Lake	A	19 ft	45 ft	21.3 µg/L
2	Pomerleau Lake	B	10.3 ft	26 ft	20.5 µg/L
3	Riley Lake	B	12.6 ft	49 ft	20 µg/L
4	Bush Lake	B	14 ft	28 ft	-
5	Minnetonka Lake	B	9.5 ft	113 ft	27 µg/L
6	Unnamed Lake	B	4.3 ft	-	17.5 µg/L
7	Fish Lake	B	8.7 ft	49 ft	26.3 µg/L
8	Sweeney-Twin Lake	B	8.2 ft	-	22 µg/L
9	Sweeney Lake	B	6.9 ft	28 ft	23 µg/L
10	Peter Lake	B	9.9 ft	-	43.4 µg/L
11	Magda Lake	B	14.1 ft	-	59 µg/L
12	Round Lake	C	7.4 ft	37 ft	28 µg/L
13	Bryant Lake	C	9.8 ft	45 ft	35 µg/L
14	Rice Marsh Lake	C	7.7 ft	-	34 µg/L
15	Bde Maka Ska Lake	C	10.7 ft	82 ft	86 µg/L
16	Hadley Lake	C	8 ft	-	-
17	Wirth Lake	C	9.7 ft	25 ft	31.5 µg/L
18	Parkers Lake	C	7.2 ft	37 ft	48.2 µg/L
19	Westwood Lake	C	3.9 ft	-	24 µg/L
20	Medicine Lake	C	8.2 ft	49 ft	74.2 µg/L
21	Bass Lake	C	4.8 ft	31 ft	31.5 µg/L
22	Normandale Lake	C	3.5 ft	-	57 µg/L
23	Silver Lake	C	5.6 ft	-	58 µg/L
24	Crystal Lake	C	3.5 ft	39 ft	58 µg/L
25	Rebecca Lake	C	4.4 ft	30 ft	44.9 µg/L
26	Harriet Lake	C	10.5 ft	87 ft	185.5 µg/L
27	Idlewild Lake	C	5.9 ft	9 ft	37 µg/L
28	Hyland Lake	C	4.6 ft	12 ft	39.1 µg/L
29	Duck Lake	C	6.2 ft	-	34 µg/L
30	Lake of the Isles	C	4.9 ft	31 ft	51.5 µg/L
31	Weaver Lake	C	5.1 ft	57 ft	37.3 µg/L
32	Schmidt Lake	C	5.6 ft	25 ft	51 µg/L
33	Forest Lake	C	3.8 ft	42 ft	46.5 µg/L
34	Red Rock Lake	D	2.8 ft	16 ft	35.5 µg/L
35	Unnamed Lake	D	2.6 ft	-	52.8 µg/L
36	Twin Lake	D	5.9 ft	44 ft	65 µg/L
37	Whaletail Lake	D	3.3 ft	22 ft	47.6 µg/L
38	Cedar Lake	D	4.7 ft	51 ft	84.5 µg/L
39	Mitchell Lake	D	3 ft	19 ft	37 µg/L
40	Mccoy Lake	D	2.1 ft	-	47 µg/L
41	Independence Lake	D	4.9 ft	58 ft	66.3 µg/L
42	Thomas Lake	D	3.4 ft	-	78.3 µg/L
43	East Sarah Lake	D	3.5 ft	59 ft	-
44	Anderson Lake	D	5 ft	9 ft	-
45	Mirror Lake	D	3.9 ft	-	-
46	Ryan Lake	D	5.6 ft	36 ft	-
47	Meadow Lake	D	3.9 ft	-	78.5 µg/L
48	Schwappauf Lake	D	4.4 ft	29 ft	65.1 µg/L
49	Eagle Lake	D	3 ft	34 ft	64 µg/L
50	Arrowhead Lake	D	2 ft	7 ft	83 µg/L
51	Camelot Lake	D	1.3 ft	31 ft	75.2 µg/L
52	Nokomis Lake	D	3.1 ft	33 ft	67 µg/L
53	Half Moon Lake	D	3.9 ft	25 ft	115.8 µg/L
54	Sarah Lake	D	3 ft	59 ft	78 µg/L
55	Tanager Lake	D	2.3 ft	23 ft	82 µg/L
56	Brownie Lake	D	4.8 ft	47 ft	1602 µg/L
57	Winterhalter Lake	D	3.9 ft	27 ft	121.4 µg/L
58	Champlin Mill Pond	D	4.9 ft	11 ft	184.6 µg/L
59	Mud Lake	F	0.9 ft	-	150 µg/L
60	Mud Lake	F	3 ft	-	196 µg/L
61	Snelling Lake	F	1.6 ft	9.5 ft	-
62	Long Lake	F	3.1 ft	33 ft	90 µg/L
63	Unnamed Lake	F	-	-	220.5 µg/L
64	Wing Lake	F	2.1 ft	-	120 µg/L
65	Rice Lake	F	2 ft	11.5 ft	348.4 µg/L
66	Ox Yoke Lake	F	2.6 ft	-	396 µg/L
67	Goose Lake	F	0.8 ft	8 ft	132.1 µg/L
68	Powderhorn Lake	F	1.3 ft	24 ft	155 µg/L
69	Diamond Lake	F	1.4 ft	8 ft	171.6 µg/L
70	Diamond Lake	F	-	5.8 ft	96 µg/L
71	Ardmore Lake	F	1.6 ft	20 ft	394.3 µg/L
72	Cornelia Lake	F	0.8 ft	6.5 ft	110 µg/L
73	Hiawatha Lake	F	2.7 ft	33 ft	100 µg/L
74	Langdon Lake	F	1.5 ft	38 ft	-
75	Rose Lake	F	3.3 ft	-	158.5 µg/L
76	Loring Lake	F	2.6 ft	16 ft	92 µg/L
77	Spurzem Lake	F	3.1 ft	38 ft	99.8 µg/L
78	Cedar Island Lake	F	3 ft	-	93 µg/L
79	Sylvan Lake	F	1.1 ft	-	301.1 µg/L
80	Lost Lake	F	1.5 ft	6 ft	138 µg/L
81	Spring Lake	F	3.1 ft	-	4389.5 µg/L
82	Staring Lake	F	2.6 ft	16 ft	90 µg/L
83	Indianhead Lake	F	1.6 ft	-	110 µg/L
84	Edina Lake	F	0.8 ft	-	130 µg/L
85	Rice Lake	F	2.6 ft	-	-
86	Unn Lake	F	2.5 ft	-	281.5 µg/L
87	Grass Lake	F	-	-	148 µg/L
88	Rice Lake	F	2.3 ft	11.5 ft	-
89	Pamela Pond	F	2.3 ft	-	-
90	Taft Lake	F	3.3 ft	45 ft	-
91	Northwood Lake	F	0.5 ft	-	550 µg/L
92	Cowley Lake	F	0.8 ft	-	738.6 µg/L
93	Long Meadow Lake	F	1.6 ft	-	-
94	Gleason Lake	F	1.7 ft	-	-
95	Snyder Lake	F	-	-	190 µg/L

Other Counties in Minnesota

Cass County

132 lakes · Avg grade B

Unknown County

6 lakes · Avg grade B

Hubbard County

76 lakes · Avg grade B

Crow Wing County

120 lakes · Avg grade B

Clearwater County

40 lakes · Avg grade B

Beltrami County

92 lakes · Avg grade B

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.