What is the best boating lake near Fargo?

Turtle Lake in Becker County is the top-ranked boating lake near Fargo, with a water quality grade of A (29.9 miles away).

How many lakes are near Fargo for boating?

30 lakes within driving distance of Fargo match the boating filters used on this page.

Best Lakes for Boating Near Fargo

North Dakota

30 boating lakes within driving distance of Fargo, North Dakota, ranked by water quality and boating-specific filters. Filtered for at least 100 acres and public access. The largest lakes with boat-worthy water are listed first.

Within reasonable driving distance of Fargo sit 30 graded lakes — a lake-dense area that gives residents real choice on any given weekend. The average grade across the nearby set is A.

Filtered for boating, the nearby-lake list narrows further. boating-specific signals — fish species, public access, depth profile, motor-boat congestion — interact with the LakeGrade rubric in different ways depending on the use case.

#	Lake	County	Grade	Distance	Clarity	Depth
1	Turtle Lake	Becker	A	29.9 mi	23 ft	73 ft
2	Middle Cormorant Lake	Becker	A	33.1 mi	15.1 ft	40 ft
3	Big Cormorant Lake	Becker	A	35.7 mi	24.8 ft	75 ft
4	Pelican Lake	Otter Tail	A	38.3 mi	16.4 ft	55 ft
5	Maud Lake	Becker	A	39.1 mi	17 ft	32 ft
6	Lizzie Lake	Otter Tail	A	39.9 mi	16.4 ft	66 ft
7	Long Lake	Becker	A	42.4 mi	15.1 ft	61 ft
8	Long Lake	Becker	A	42.7 mi	19.3 ft	61 ft
9	Jewett Lake	Otter Tail	A	47.7 mi	17.7 ft	75 ft
10	West Silent Lake	Otter Tail	A	48.6 mi	18 ft	58 ft
11	Big Sugar Bush Lake	Becker	A	49.2 mi	16.5 ft	42 ft
12	Six Lake	Otter Tail	A	49.2 mi	21 ft	140 ft
13	Scalp Lake	Otter Tail	A	49.6 mi	20 ft	90 ft
14	Eunice Lake	Becker	A	40.1 mi	13.5 ft	30 ft
15	Pearl Lake	Becker	A	40.8 mi	10 ft	54 ft
16	Franklin Lake	Otter Tail	A	41.5 mi	13.1 ft	48 ft
17	Melissa Lake	Becker	A	43.3 mi	13.1 ft	37 ft
18	Floyd Lake	Becker	A	44.5 mi	13.1 ft	34 ft
19	Detroit Lake	Becker	A	45.3 mi	14 ft	89 ft
20	Trowbridge Lake	Otter Tail	A	46.4 mi	13.5 ft	76 ft
21	Long Lake	Otter Tail	A	46.6 mi	11.6 ft	73 ft
22	East Loon Lake	Otter Tail	A	48.8 mi	13.5 ft	105 ft
23	Ida Lake	Becker	B	34.4 mi	12.1 ft	20 ft
24	Bullhead Lake	Becker	B	37.8 mi	12.9 ft	34 ft
25	Prairie Lake	Otter Tail	B	38.9 mi	8.9 ft	22 ft
26	Sallie Lake	Becker	B	43.1 mi	13 ft	50 ft
27	Crystal Lake	Otter Tail	B	43.3 mi	10.2 ft	55 ft
28	Mud Lake	Becker	B	43.9 mi	12.5 ft	34 ft
29	Lida Lake	Otter Tail	B	44.6 mi	14 ft	58 ft
30	Little Floyd Lake	Becker	B	45.2 mi	11 ft	34 ft

Other activities near Fargo

Swimming near Fargo →Fishing near Fargo →Kayaking near Fargo →All lakes near Fargo →

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.