Best Lakes for Kayaking Near St. Cloud
Minnesota
4 kayaking lakes within driving distance of St. Cloud, Minnesota, ranked by water quality and kayaking-specific filters. Filtered for grade A, B, or C water quality, public access, and ideal paddling size (30-3,000 acres).
St. Cloud is not lake-dense — only 4 graded lakes are within easy reach. The cleanest of those is Cedar Lake (A).
The kayaking-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 kayaking use case is less useful than a grade-decent lake that does.
| # | Lake | County | Grade | Distance | Clarity | Depth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cedar Lake | Wright | A | 20.5 mi | 15 ft | - |
| 2 | Big Birch Lake | Todd | B | 32.1 mi | 13 ft | - |
| 3 | Calhoun Lake | Kandiyohi | B | 38 mi | 7.3 ft | - |
| 4 | Pierz Lake | Morrison | C | 27.8 mi | 8 ft | - |
Other activities near St. Cloud
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.