What is the best swimming lake near St. Cloud?

Sagatagan Lake in Stearns County is the top-ranked swimming lake near St. Cloud, with a water quality grade of A (11 miles away).

How many lakes are near St. Cloud for swimming?

30 lakes within driving distance of St. Cloud match the swimming filters used on this page.

Best Lakes for Swimming Near St. Cloud

Minnesota

30 swimming lakes within driving distance of St. Cloud, 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 St. Cloud 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 swimming, the nearby-lake list narrows further. swimming-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	Sagatagan Lake	Stearns	A	11 mi	17 ft	-
2	Crooked Lake	Stearns	A	12.1 mi	15 ft	-
3	Big Watab Lake	Stearns	A	14 mi	20.5 ft	-
4	Big Fish Lake	Stearns	A	14.9 mi	20.7 ft	-
5	Kreighle Lake	Stearns	A	15.3 mi	18 ft	-
6	Sugar Lake	Wright	A	17.9 mi	17 ft	-
7	East Sylvia Lake	Wright	A	21.6 mi	21.7 ft	-
8	West Sylvia Lake	Wright	A	22 mi	22 ft	-
9	Birch Lake	Wright	A	22.9 mi	15 ft	-
10	Upper Maple Lake	Wright	A	24.7 mi	18 ft	-
11	Big Lake	Sherburne	A	25.1 mi	17.5 ft	-
12	Cedar Lake	Morrison	A	28.6 mi	16.4 ft	-
13	Pine Lake	Morrison	A	29.2 mi	15.1 ft	-
14	Pulaski Lake	Wright	A	29.3 mi	18 ft	-
15	Watab Lake	Stearns	A	6.8 mi	10.5 ft	-
16	Nixon Lake	Wright	A	14.9 mi	13.1 ft	-
17	Big Spunk Lake	Stearns	A	15 mi	10 ft	-
18	Bass Lake	Wright	A	16.8 mi	13.5 ft	-
19	Ember Lake	Wright	A	17.7 mi	14.1 ft	-
20	Cedar Lake	Wright	A	20.5 mi	15 ft	-
21	Ida Lake	Wright	A	21.9 mi	13.3 ft	-
22	Moose Lake	Wright	A	23.7 mi	14.5 ft	-
23	Mitchell Lake	Sherburne	A	24.7 mi	10 ft	-
24	Ann Lake	Sherburne	A	24.9 mi	11.6 ft	-
25	Big Lake	Sherburne	A	25 mi	13.5 ft	-
26	Unnamed Lake	Sherburne	B	7.6 mi	13.5 ft	-
27	Long Lake	Stearns	B	9.7 mi	13 ft	-
28	Unnamed Lake	Stearns	B	4 mi	11 ft	-
29	Pleasant Lake	Stearns	B	7.3 mi	13 ft	-
30	Pickerel Lake	Sherburne	B	8 mi	10 ft	-

Other activities near St. Cloud

Fishing near St. Cloud →Kayaking near St. Cloud →Boating near St. Cloud →All lakes near St. Cloud →

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.