Gull Lake
Cook County, MinnesotaView mapDirections
Minnesota PCA publishes the water-quality measurements for Gull Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Oligotrophic
- Impaired · Mercury
- 42 ft max depth
- Public access
Gull Lake in Cook County, Minnesota has water-quality measurements published by Minnesota PCA, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 15.5 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 8.5 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 2.5 µg/L.
Gull Lake is a cold, clear oligotrophic lake in Cook County, Minnesota with an estimated average depth of about 42 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 2 public boat landings. Compared to the 43 other monitored lakes in Cook County, Gull Lake ranks #8 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Minnesota DNR LakeFinder, last sampled 2025-08-05. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Gull Lake has 2 public boat landings, so a lakefront rental is not the only way to get a boat on the water. For a place on the water, look through cabin and lake-house rentals near Gull Lake on Vrbo. For a hotel or motel room, Booking.com and Expedia both search around the lake.
What Gull Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Clear water15.5 ft of visibility
- Boat launch2 documented ramps
- Camping1 public campground nearby
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLow algae
Based on clarity and algae readings from past sampling — there is no live water temperature and a current cyanobacteria reading for this lake. Check your state or county health department before you swim.
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Gull Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Gull Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota DNR and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Gull Lake
These are the measurements Minnesota PCA publishes for Gull Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Crystal clear, you can see 15.5 ft down. Phosphorus 8.5 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 2.5 µg/L. TSI 37.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 15.5ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 8.5µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 2.5µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 37 | Oligotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Low nutrients, clear water. No reading is a swimming clearance.
Ask about Gull Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
DNR Reports & Resources
Minnesota DNR LakeFinder publishes lake survey, fish stocking, water access, and aquatic plant data for Gull Lake. 1 report on file.
These links open on the official state DNR websites (Wisconsin DNR survey PDFs · Minnesota DNR LakeFinder).
- —Public Water Access Sites — Gull (Main Basin)Public Water Access Sites · MN DNR LakeFinder
Lake Details
Max depth
~42 ft est.
Public access
Yes
Listed by Minnesota PCA
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Minnesota has not published bathymetry for Gull Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
1 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
74 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
2.1 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,430 ft
Size, shoreline, and watershed area from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS). Mean depth here is modelled, not surveyed — HydroLAKES v1.0 estimates lake depth from surrounding terrain rather than from soundings. Treat it as an approximation, and prefer a state bathymetric survey where one exists.
Recreation & Access
- Gull LakePublic
- Sea Gull Lake (North)Public
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Public campgrounds near Gull Lake
- Trails End Campground0.7 kmReserve
Nearest public campgrounds in the USGS National Map inventory, within about 3 miles. An empty list means USGS records no campground that close, which is not the same as camping being unavailable. Where the source gives an official reservation link, it is used; the cabin and hotel search does not cover campsites. More camping lakes
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Gull Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Gull Lake in Cook County, Minnesota — live availability and prices for your trip. Switch the map to Satellite to see the lake and how close each stay is to the water.
Top-rated places to stay near Gull Lake
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Fishing Gull Lake
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 6 years of monitoring (2020–2025).
Water clarity
Stable6 years
Phosphorus
Stable+0.2 µg/L/yr5 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+0.37 µg/L/yr5 years
EPA Impairment Status
Gull Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Fish consumption.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit MN16-0632-01 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Cook County
Frequently asked questions about Gull Lake
Where is Gull Lake?
- Gull Lake is a lake in Cook County, Minnesota. Its water-quality measurements are published by Minnesota PCA and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Gull Lake?
- Gull Lake in Cook County, Minnesota has water-quality measurements published by Minnesota PCA, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 15.5 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 8.5 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 2.5 µg/L.
Is Gull Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Gull Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Gull Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Gull Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 42 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.
Are there boat ramps on Gull Lake?
- Gull Lake has 2 documented boat landings in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Gull Lake, Sea Gull Lake (North). Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Gull Lake?
- Gull Lake has 2 documented boat landings in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Minnesota's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Are there campgrounds on Gull Lake?
- Gull Lake has 1 public campground from USGS The National Map within 5 km, including Trails End Campground. This is a location join, not a booking. Cabins and hotels are listed separately; campsite reservations use the official link when the source provides one.
Explore Gull Lake across LakeQuality
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Fish species and best lakes in Cook County
Species activity outlook by water temperature and season
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Minnesota's cleanest lakes, ranked on agency measurements
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Where this data comes from
34 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2021–2025. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Minnesota Pollution Control Agency - Ambient Surface Water
MNPCA34 samples · 2021–2025
Analytical methods
- Field measurement/observation, generic method
- Phosphorus by Two Reagent Colorimetry
- 10200 H ~ Chlorophyll a-b-c Determination
Monitoring station identifiers (1)
EPA condition classes from the National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See where the data comes from and data sources.
Other records on this page
Impairment status from EPA ATTAINS 303(d) database
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Lake details from Minnesota DNR LakeFinder
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory
Public campgrounds from USGS The National Map Structures, within about 3 miles