Best Public Access Lakes

The top 50 lakes with a documented public boat ramp or access point, ranked by water quality grade, across all 12 states we cover. Access data comes from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory plus state DNR records — always confirm current access and any fees with the managing agency before you go.

Best Water Quality with Public Access

Rank	Lake	County	State	Grade	Depth	Fish Species
1	East Fox Lake	Crow Wing	MN	A	65 ft	15
2	North Long Lake	Crow Wing	MN	A	97 ft	18
3	Bad Medicine Lake	Becker	MN	A	84 ft	13
4	Big Sugar Bush Lake	Becker	MN	A	42 ft	13
5	Round Lake	Cook	MN	A	45 ft	5
6	Horseshoe Lake	Cass	MN	A	51 ft	12
7	Long Lake	Cass	MN	A	115 ft	14
8	Long Lake	Clearwater	MN	A	80 ft	15
9	Long Lake	Becker	MN	A	61 ft	16
10	Long Lake	Cass	MN	A	37 ft	12
11	Long Lake	Itasca	MN	A	72 ft	10
12	Long Lake	Itasca	MN	A	85 ft	12
13	Dead Lake	Hubbard	MN	A	34 ft	9
14	Otter Lake	Otter Tail	MN	A	64 ft	7
15	Ossawinnamakee Lake	Crow Wing	MN	A	63 ft	18
16	Clear Lake	Crow Wing	MN	A	63 ft	15
17	Clear Lake	Aitkin	MN	A	24 ft	14
18	Clear Lake	Itasca	MN	A	30 ft	9
19	Eagle Lake	Otter Tail	MN	A	46 ft	10
20	Ida Lake	Douglas	MN	A	106 ft	19
21	Star Lake	Otter Tail	MN	A	94 ft	17
22	Upper Maple Lake	Wright	MN	A	76 ft	15
23	Fish Lake	Otter Tail	MN	A	69 ft	17
24	Birch Lake	Wright	MN	A	52 ft	9
25	Birch Lake	Cook	MN	A	69 ft	3
26	Woman Lake	Cass	MN	A	-	0
27	Girl Lake	Cass	MN	A	81 ft	18
28	Little Toad Lake	Becker	MN	A	65 ft	15
29	Charlotte Lake	Wright	MN	A	46 ft	10
30	Bass Lake	Otter Tail	MN	A	-	0
31	Bass Lake	Itasca	MN	A	65 ft	7
32	Bass Lake	Cass	MN	A	55 ft	12
33	Crooked Lake	Stearns	MN	A	35 ft	10
34	Crooked Lake	Hubbard	MN	A	-	0
35	Crooked Lake	Crow Wing	MN	A	54 ft	16
36	Cedar Lake	Morrison	MN	A	88 ft	14
37	Pelican Lake	Otter Tail	MN	A	55 ft	20
38	Square Lake	Washington	MN	A	68 ft	9
39	Big Pine Lake	Aitkin	MN	A	78 ft	15
40	Strawberry Lake	Becker	MN	A	40 ft	16
41	Alexander Lake	Morrison	MN	A	64 ft	19
42	Mcavity Lake	Itasca	MN	A	29 ft	9
43	Gull Lake	Cass	MN	A	80 ft	22
44	Gull Lake	Cook	MN	A	-	0
45	Deep Portage Lake	Cass	MN	A	105 ft	9
46	Little Wabana Lake	Itasca	MN	A	57 ft	6
47	Clearwater Lake	Cook	MN	A	65 ft	0
48	Lower Hay Lake	Crow Wing	MN	A	100 ft	21
49	Latoka Lake	Douglas	MN	A	108 ft	16
50	Pike Lake	Cook	MN	A	45 ft	7

Best Lakes with Boat Launches

Rank	Lake	County	State	Grade	Launches	Depth
1	East Fox Lake	Crow Wing	MN	A	1	65 ft
2	North Long Lake	Crow Wing	MN	A	3	97 ft
3	Bad Medicine Lake	Becker	MN	A	1	84 ft
4	Big Sugar Bush Lake	Becker	MN	A	1	42 ft
5	Horseshoe Lake	Cass	MN	A	1	51 ft
6	Long Lake	Cass	MN	A	4	115 ft
7	Long Lake	Clearwater	MN	A	3	80 ft
8	Long Lake	Becker	MN	A	2	61 ft
9	Long Lake	Itasca	MN	A	5	72 ft
10	Dead Lake	Hubbard	MN	A	1	34 ft
11	Otter Lake	Otter Tail	MN	A	7	64 ft
12	Ossawinnamakee Lake	Crow Wing	MN	A	1	63 ft
13	Clear Lake	Crow Wing	MN	A	1	63 ft
14	Clear Lake	Aitkin	MN	A	1	24 ft
15	Clear Lake	Itasca	MN	A	1	30 ft
16	Eagle Lake	Otter Tail	MN	A	1	46 ft
17	Ida Lake	Douglas	MN	A	3	106 ft
18	Star Lake	Otter Tail	MN	A	3	94 ft
19	Upper Maple Lake	Wright	MN	A	2	76 ft
20	Fish Lake	Otter Tail	MN	A	2	69 ft
21	Woman Lake	Cass	MN	A	2	-
22	Girl Lake	Cass	MN	A	1	81 ft
23	Little Toad Lake	Becker	MN	A	2	65 ft
24	Charlotte Lake	Wright	MN	A	1	46 ft
25	Bass Lake	Otter Tail	MN	A	1	-
26	Bass Lake	Cass	MN	A	2	55 ft
27	Crooked Lake	Stearns	MN	A	2	35 ft
28	Crooked Lake	Hubbard	MN	A	4	-
29	Crooked Lake	Crow Wing	MN	A	1	54 ft
30	Cedar Lake	Morrison	MN	A	1	88 ft
31	Pelican Lake	Otter Tail	MN	A	3	55 ft
32	Square Lake	Washington	MN	A	1	68 ft
33	Big Pine Lake	Aitkin	MN	A	2	78 ft
34	Strawberry Lake	Becker	MN	A	3	40 ft
35	Alexander Lake	Morrison	MN	A	2	64 ft
36	Mcavity Lake	Itasca	MN	A	1	29 ft
37	Gull Lake	Cass	MN	A	3	80 ft
38	Gull Lake	Cook	MN	A	3	-
39	Deep Portage Lake	Cass	MN	A	3	105 ft
40	Little Wabana Lake	Itasca	MN	A	2	57 ft
41	Clearwater Lake	Cook	MN	A	1	65 ft
42	Lower Hay Lake	Crow Wing	MN	A	3	100 ft
43	Latoka Lake	Douglas	MN	A	2	108 ft
44	Pike Lake	Cook	MN	A	1	45 ft
45	Pike Lake	St. Louis	MN	A	2	60 ft
46	Maple Lake	Itasca	MN	A	1	39 ft
47	Shallow Lake	Itasca	MN	A	2	85 ft
48	Trout Lake	Itasca	MN	A	3	135 ft
49	Cowdry Lake	Douglas	MN	A	1	52 ft
50	Blue Lake	Hubbard	MN	A	3	84 ft

Cleanest Lakes →Worst Water Quality →Clearest Water →Improving →Declining →

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