What lakes are in the Mississippi Headwaters?

487 monitored lakes drain through the Mississippi Headwaters, including Round Lake, Horseshoe Lake, Long Lake, and others. The watershed spans Minnesota.

What is the cleanest lake in the Mississippi Headwaters?

Round Lake in Beltrami County is the highest-rated lake in the Mississippi Headwaters with a Grade A.

What is a HUC8 watershed?

HUC8 (Hydrologic Unit Code, 8-digit) is the USGS classification for "subbasins" — the level at which major named river systems are usually identified. The Mississippi Headwaters corresponds to HUC8 07010101.

Mississippi Headwaters

Minnesota · 487 monitored lakes · 255 grade A · 150 grade B · HUC8 07010101

The first 400 miles of the Mississippi River from Lake Itasca through the headwaters lakes region — Bemidji, Cass, Winnibigoshish, and dozens of source-water lakes.

Reviewed by LakeQuality Editorial Team · Updated Jul 20, 2026

Counties in this watershed

Beltrami, Hubbard, Cass, Itasca, Clearwater

Monitored Lakes (487)

#	Lake	County	Grade	Clarity	Area	Depth
1	Round Lake	Beltrami	A	18 ft	181 acres	38 ft
2	Horseshoe Lake	Cass	A	21 ft	260 acres	51 ft
3	Long Lake	Cass	A	21.5 ft	1,007 acres	115 ft
4	Long Lake	Clearwater	A	20.5 ft	159 acres	80 ft
5	Long Lake	Beltrami	A	20 ft	412 acres	87 ft
6	Long Lake	Cass	A	17 ft	246 acres	37 ft
7	Long Lake	Itasca	A	16.7 ft	155 acres	72 ft
8	Long Lake	Itasca	A	16.9 ft	134 acres	85 ft
9	Dead Lake	Hubbard	A	16 ft	131 acres	34 ft
10	Clear Lake	Itasca	A	14.9 ft	140 acres	30 ft
11	Spearhead Lake	Hubbard	A	15 ft	194 acres	81 ft
12	Woman Lake	Cass	A	15 ft	-	-
13	Girl Lake	Cass	A	17.6 ft	428 acres	81 ft
14	Bass Lake	Itasca	A	18.2 ft	122 acres	65 ft
15	Bass Lake	Cass	A	-	195 acres	55 ft
16	Crooked Lake	Hubbard	A	19 ft	-	-
17	Lower Bottle Lake	Hubbard	A	15 ft	641 acres	110 ft
18	Mcavity Lake	Itasca	A	17.3 ft	147 acres	29 ft
19	Gull Lake	Cass	A	15 ft	10,010 acres	80 ft
20	Deep Portage Lake	Cass	A	15.4 ft	129 acres	105 ft
21	Little Wabana Lake	Itasca	A	24 ft	116 acres	57 ft
22	Fullers Lake: East Basin	Beltrami	A	15 ft	-	-
23	Maple Lake	Itasca	A	15.3 ft	255 acres	39 ft
24	Shallow Lake	Itasca	A	16.4 ft	539 acres	85 ft
25	Trout Lake	Itasca	A	16 ft	1,862 acres	135 ft
26	Trout Lake	Itasca	A	18 ft	1,743 acres	157 ft
27	Blue Lake	Hubbard	A	17.3 ft	336 acres	84 ft
28	Sand Lake	Cass	A	20 ft	149 acres	54 ft
29	Andrusia Lake	Beltrami	A	15.1 ft	1,596 acres	60 ft
30	Green Lake	Beltrami	A	18.5 ft	-	-
31	Island Lake	Cass	A	15.5 ft	358 acres	45 ft
32	Island Lake	Cass	A	17.5 ft	184 acres	40 ft
33	Island Lake	Beltrami	A	16 ft	-	-
34	Island Lake	Hubbard	A	16.4 ft	225 acres	32 ft
35	Moose Lake	Beltrami	A	15.1 ft	601 acres	71 ft
36	Portage Lake	Cass	A	21 ft	277 acres	84 ft
37	Turtle Lake	Itasca	A	17.1 ft	120 acres	54 ft
38	Rice Lake	Itasca	A	15 ft	863 acres	68 ft
39	Pokegama Lake	Itasca	A	16.1 ft	6,721 acres	112 ft
40	Sandy Lake	Beltrami	A	16 ft	-	-
41	Pickerel Lake	Clearwater	A	16.1 ft	143 acres	60 ft
42	Upper Bottle Lake	Hubbard	A	16 ft	459 acres	55 ft
43	Ox Yoke Lake	Cass	A	17.5 ft	185 acres	42 ft
44	Wabana Lake	Itasca	A	18 ft	2,221 acres	115 ft
45	Little Mantrap Lake	Hubbard	A	17 ft	381 acres	54 ft
46	Caribou Lake	Itasca	A	31 ft	247 acres	152 ft
47	Mary Lake	Hubbard	A	18.8 ft	235 acres	48 ft
48	Little Bass Lake	Beltrami	A	16 ft	363 acres	22 ft
49	Little Bass Lake	Itasca	A	17.7 ft	161 acres	62 ft
50	Little Bass Lake	Clearwater	A	-	51 acres	35 ft
51	Napoleon Lake	Itasca	A	18 ft	138 acres	30 ft
52	Hand Lake	Cass	A	17 ft	289 acres	57 ft
53	Heart Lake	Clearwater	A	17 ft	224 acres	55 ft
54	Crystal Lake	Cass	A	16 ft	190 acres	40 ft
55	Hatch Lake	Itasca	A	15.3 ft	226 acres	88 ft
56	North Twin Lake	Beltrami	A	17.4 ft	326 acres	59 ft
57	North Star Lake	Itasca	A	19 ft	832 acres	90 ft
58	Pleasant Lake	Cass	A	15.5 ft	1,099 acres	72 ft
59	Webb Lake	Cass	A	18 ft	720 acres	84 ft
60	Little Trout Lake	Itasca	A	22 ft	86 acres	80 ft
61	Howard Lake	Cass	A	16 ft	386 acres	60 ft
62	Bluewater Lake	Itasca	A	18.5 ft	364 acres	120 ft
63	Dunning Lake	Itasca	A	18.5 ft	-	-
64	Skunk Lake	Hubbard	A	16.5 ft	218 acres	55 ft
65	Pine Lake	Cass	A	16 ft	261 acres	25 ft
66	Emma Lake	Hubbard	A	18.5 ft	78 acres	50 ft
67	Thunder Lake	Cass	A	16.5 ft	1,347 acres	95 ft
68	Sanburn Lake	Cass	A	19 ft	220 acres	48 ft
69	Little Portage Lake	Cass	A	16.4 ft	-	-
70	Spider (Ne Lake	Hubbard	A	17.1 ft	570 acres	96 ft
71	Gilmore Lake	Hubbard	A	20.3 ft	93 acres	54 ft
72	Midge Lake	Hubbard	A	18 ft	546 acres	24 ft
73	Three Island Lake	Itasca	A	29 ft	250 acres	66 ft
74	Ponto Lake	Cass	A	19 ft	388 acres	60 ft
75	Little Long Lake	Itasca	A	17 ft	305 acres	61 ft
76	Ten Mile Lake	Cass	A	20.5 ft	5,080 acres	208 ft
77	Mirror Lake	Itasca	A	18 ft	109 acres	45 ft
78	Little Rock Lake	Clearwater	A	15.1 ft	-	-
79	Little Sand Lake	Hubbard	A	20 ft	410 acres	80 ft
80	Lone Lake	Clearwater	A	19.4 ft	69 acres	70 ft
81	Big Sand Lake	Hubbard	A	23 ft	1,639 acres	135 ft
82	Siseebakwet Lake	Itasca	A	19 ft	1,210 acres	105 ft
83	Beauty Lake	Hubbard	A	21 ft	55 acres	53 ft
84	Sylvan Lake	Cass	A	19.5 ft	1,280 acres	-
85	Big Bass Lake	Hubbard	A	19.4 ft	133 acres	60 ft
86	Hunter Lake	Cass	A	31 ft	182 acres	48 ft
87	Stony Lake	Cass	A	23 ft	563 acres	50 ft
88	Johnson Lake	Itasca	A	15.7 ft	434 acres	88 ft
89	Shemahgun Lake	Beltrami	A	15 ft	-	-
90	Ojibway Lake	Hubbard	A	15.5 ft	184 acres	22 ft
91	Bad Axe Lake	Hubbard	A	15.1 ft	303 acres	39 ft
92	Kinney Lake	Beltrami	A	15 ft	-	-
93	Peysenske Lake	Hubbard	A	15 ft	-	-
94	Widow Lake	Cass	A	18.5 ft	198 acres	46 ft
95	Swenson Lake	Beltrami	A	20.7 ft	412 acres	76 ft
96	Squaw Smith Lake	Beltrami	A	20 ft	-	-
97	South Twin Lake	Beltrami	A	16.7 ft	222 acres	45 ft
98	Barnum Lake	Cass	A	16.1 ft	151 acres	30 ft
99	Belle Taine Lake	Hubbard	A	22.8 ft	1,497 acres	56 ft
100	Mule Lake	Cass	A	18 ft	525 acres	47 ft