Jay Cooke State Park
Jay Cooke State Park is a state park in Carlton County. It was established in 1915. 8 graded lakes are within 15 miles of the park, including Thomson Reservoir, Chub Lake, Hay Lake.
Jay Cooke State Park is a Minnesota State Park covering an unrecorded acreage acres. State parks are the most heavily-developed of the public-land designations — campground, picnic, boat-launch, interpretive-center. 8 graded lakes are within easy reach of the park, with an average grade of C. Chub Lake (B) is the cleanest of the set.
State parks pair well with the LakeGrade dataset: the park itself usually has interpretive signage explaining the local lake system, but the per-lake grade tells you which actual lake in the system to head to.
Nearby Graded Lakes (within 15 mi)
Lakes closest to Jay Cooke State Park, weighted by size. Click a lake for its full water quality grade, fish species, and depth.
| Lake | County | Grade | Surface Area | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thomson Reservoir | Carlton | F | 375 acres | 3.5 mi |
| Chub Lake | Carlton | B | - | 6.4 mi |
| Hay Lake | Carlton | C | - | 7.2 mi |
| Second Lake | Carlton | D | - | 8.9 mi |
| Third Lake | Carlton | B | - | 9.2 mi |
| Twin Lake | St. Louis | B | - | 9.7 mi |
| Pat Martin Lake | Carlton | B | - | 12.7 mi |
| Wild Rice Lake | Carlton | C | - | 13 mi |
Other Parks in the Area
- Moose Lake State Park— State Park, 24 mi
- Moose Lake State Recreation Area— State Recreation Area, 24 mi
- Savanna Portage State Park— State Park, 41.2 mi
- Banning State Park— State Park, 41.8 mi
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.