Best Lakes for Swimming Near Park Rapids
Minnesota
30 swimming lakes within driving distance of Park Rapids, Minnesota, ranked by water quality and swimming-specific filters. Filtered for grade A or B water quality, low algae (chlorophyll-a under 15 µg/L), and public access. Always check local advisories on the day you swim.
Within reasonable driving distance of Park Rapids 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.
The swimming-specific ranking layered on top of the LakeGrade rubric is what produces the list below: a grade-good lake that does not also support the swimming use case is less useful than a grade-decent lake that does.
| # | Lake | County | Grade | Distance | Clarity | Depth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peysenske Lake | Hubbard | A | 4.2 mi | 15 ft | - |
| 2 | Big Sand Lake | Hubbard | A | 6.9 mi | 23 ft | - |
| 3 | Blue Lake | Hubbard | A | 7 mi | 17.4 ft | - |
| 4 | Belle Taine Lake | Hubbard | A | 7.4 mi | 22.8 ft | - |
| 5 | Little Sand Lake | Hubbard | A | 7.5 mi | 20 ft | - |
| 6 | Gilmore Lake | Hubbard | A | 8.3 mi | 20.5 ft | - |
| 7 | Emma Lake | Hubbard | A | 8.5 mi | 19.5 ft | - |
| 8 | Lower Bottle Lake | Hubbard | A | 9 mi | 15 ft | - |
| 9 | Ojibway Lake | Hubbard | A | 9.8 mi | 15.8 ft | - |
| 10 | Upper Bottle Lake | Hubbard | A | 10.2 mi | 16 ft | - |
| 11 | Dead Lake | Hubbard | A | 10.3 mi | 16 ft | - |
| 12 | Island Lake | Hubbard | A | 10.6 mi | 16.4 ft | - |
| 13 | Skunk Lake | Hubbard | A | 11.6 mi | 17 ft | - |
| 14 | Spider (Ne Lake | Hubbard | A | 11.6 mi | 17.1 ft | - |
| 15 | Spirit Lake | Wadena | A | 12 mi | 15.4 ft | - |
| 16 | Crooked Lake | Hubbard | A | 12.3 mi | 19.2 ft | - |
| 17 | Bad Axe Lake | Hubbard | A | 12.5 mi | 15.4 ft | - |
| 18 | Owl Lake | Hubbard | A | 13 mi | 15 ft | - |
| 19 | Boot Lake | Becker | A | 14.3 mi | 19.5 ft | - |
| 20 | Waboose Lake | Hubbard | A | 14.3 mi | 16.8 ft | - |
| 21 | Little Mantrap Lake | Hubbard | A | 14.5 mi | 17 ft | - |
| 22 | 11 Crow Wing Lake | Hubbard | A | 17.1 mi | 18.4 ft | - |
| 23 | Beauty Lake | Hubbard | A | 17.1 mi | 21 ft | - |
| 24 | Big Bass Lake | Hubbard | A | 18.6 mi | 19.4 ft | - |
| 25 | Gillett Lake | Hubbard | A | 18.7 mi | 19 ft | - |
| 26 | Crystal Lake | Cass | A | 19.3 mi | 16 ft | - |
| 27 | Twenty-One Lake | Hubbard | A | 19.5 mi | 17 ft | - |
| 28 | Howard Lake | Cass | A | 20.2 mi | 16 ft | - |
| 29 | Bad Medicine Lake | Becker | A | 21.4 mi | 25 ft | - |
| 30 | Ten Mile Lake | Cass | A | 22.8 mi | 20 ft | - |
Other activities near Park Rapids
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Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.