What lakes are in the Mississippi Headwaters?

1471 monitored lakes drain through the Mississippi Headwaters, including Rainy Lake, Deep Portage Lake, Clearwater Lake, and others. The watershed spans Minnesota.

What is the cleanest lake in the Mississippi Headwaters?

Rainy Lake in Cass County has the most favourable nutrient and algae readings in the Mississippi Headwaters, with about 13.9 ft of clarity.

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, Lakes & Water Quality

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 Aug 26, 2026

Counties in this watershed

Beltrami, Hubbard, Cass, Itasca, Clearwater

Monitored Lakes (1471)

#	Lake	County	Clarity	Area	Depth
1	Rainy Lake	Cass	13.9 ft	129 acres	29 ft
2	Deep Portage Lake	Cass	15.4 ft	129 acres	105 ft
3	Clearwater Lake	Clearwater	10 ft	999 acres	65 ft
4	Big Lake	Beltrami	9.7 ft	3,598 acres	35 ft
5	Fullers Lake	Beltrami	15 ft	-	-
6	Birch Lake	Cass	14 ft	1,267 acres	45 ft
7	Round Lake	Beltrami	18 ft	181 acres	38 ft
8	Ada Lake	Cass	14 ft	963 acres	60 ft
9	Whitefish Lake	Beltrami	12.5 ft	128 acres	30 ft
10	Horseshoe Lake	Cass	8.9 ft	127 acres	12 ft
11	Washburn Lake	Cass	14.1 ft	1,590 acres	111 ft
12	Long Lake	Clearwater	20.5 ft	159 acres	80 ft
13	Long Lake	Cass	21.5 ft	1,007 acres	115 ft
14	Long Lake	Beltrami	20 ft	412 acres	87 ft
15	Long Lake	Hubbard	11.2 ft	1,926 acres	135 ft
16	Long Lake	Beltrami	10 ft	202 acres	83 ft
17	Long Lake	Beltrami	14 ft	-	-
18	Long Lake	Itasca	16.7 ft	155 acres	72 ft
19	Long Lake	Itasca	16.9 ft	134 acres	85 ft
20	Dead Lake	Hubbard	16 ft	131 acres	34 ft
21	Maple Lake	Cass	13.3 ft	76 acres	45 ft
22	Maple Lake	Itasca	15.3 ft	255 acres	39 ft
23	Shallow Lake	Itasca	16.4 ft	539 acres	85 ft
24	Shallow Lake	Hubbard	8.2 ft	284 acres	10 ft
25	Trout Lake	Itasca	18 ft	1,743 acres	157 ft
26	Deer Lake	Beltrami	11 ft	298 acres	42 ft
27	Deer Lake	Itasca	8.9 ft	1,855 acres	50 ft
28	Deer Lake	Hubbard	12.8 ft	181 acres	9 ft
29	Deer Lake	Itasca	13.1 ft	4,093 acres	121 ft
30	Five Island Lake	Itasca	13 ft	214 acres	33 ft
31	Schram Lake	Beltrami	3.9 ft	-	-
32	Clear Lake	Itasca	14.9 ft	140 acres	30 ft
33	Emerald Lake	Beltrami	9.5 ft	-	-
34	Blue Lake	Hubbard	17.3 ft	336 acres	84 ft
35	Eagle Lake	Hubbard	11.2 ft	424 acres	77 ft
36	Mantrap Lake	Hubbard	12 ft	-	-
37	Benedict Lake	Hubbard	11.5 ft	464 acres	91 ft
38	Sand Lake	Itasca	13.2 ft	715 acres	60 ft
39	Norway Lake	Cass	6.9 ft	515 acres	12 ft
40	Shell Lake	Beltrami	13 ft	-	-
41	Woman Lake	Cass	15 ft	-	-
42	Andrusia Lake	Beltrami	15.1 ft	1,596 acres	60 ft
43	Green Lake	Beltrami	18.5 ft	-	-
44	Green Lake	Beltrami	12 ft	-	-
45	Girl Lake	Cass	17.6 ft	428 acres	81 ft
46	Upper Gull Lake	Cass	9.5 ft	422 acres	54 ft
47	Mow Lake	Hubbard	14.5 ft	106 acres	34 ft
48	Leech Lake	Cass	12.5 ft	-	-
49	Bass Lake	Itasca	18.2 ft	122 acres	65 ft
50	Island Lake	Cass	15.5 ft	358 acres	45 ft
51	Island Lake	Hubbard	10.5 ft	541 acres	65 ft
52	Island Lake	Cass	17.5 ft	184 acres	40 ft
53	Island Lake	Beltrami	16 ft	-	-
54	Island Lake	Hubbard	16.4 ft	225 acres	32 ft
55	Island Lake	Cass	8.2 ft	-	-
56	Island Lake	Clearwater	14.1 ft	44 acres	58 ft
57	Moose Lake	Beltrami	15.1 ft	601 acres	71 ft
58	Moose Lake	Itasca	8 ft	412 acres	52 ft
59	Crooked Lake	Hubbard	19 ft	-	-
60	Crooked Lake	Cass	12 ft	582 acres	74 ft
61	Portage Lake	Cass	7 ft	-	-
62	Turtle Lake	Itasca	17.1 ft	120 acres	54 ft
63	Turtle Lake	Beltrami	10.2 ft	1,607 acres	45 ft
64	Lower Bottle Lake	Hubbard	15 ft	641 acres	110 ft
65	Spider Lake	Cass	10.2 ft	145 acres	17 ft
66	Pokegama Lake	Itasca	16.1 ft	6,721 acres	112 ft
67	Sandy Lake	Beltrami	16 ft	-	-
68	Sandy Lake	Beltrami	14 ft	261 acres	32 ft
69	Pickerel Lake	Hubbard	11.1 ft	310 acres	26 ft
70	George Lake	Hubbard	12.6 ft	826 acres	29 ft
71	Gull Lake	Cass	15 ft	10,010 acres	80 ft
72	Upper Trelipe Lake	Cass	14 ft	421 acres	69 ft
73	Ray Lake	Cass	10.3 ft	143 acres	27 ft
74	Lawrence Lake	Cass	9.8 ft	225 acres	71 ft
75	Upper Bottle Lake	Hubbard	16 ft	459 acres	55 ft
76	Peterson Lake	Clearwater	11.3 ft	99 acres	70 ft
77	Silver Lake	Cass	13 ft	121 acres	20 ft
78	Heart Lake	Beltrami	14.5 ft	-	-
79	Child Lake	Cass	12.1 ft	285 acres	29 ft
80	Wabana Lake	Itasca	18 ft	2,221 acres	115 ft
81	Little Mantrap Lake	Hubbard	17 ft	381 acres	54 ft
82	Rock Lake	Clearwater	11.2 ft	-	-
83	Baby Lake	Cass	12.5 ft	737 acres	69 ft
84	Inguadona Lake	Cass	12 ft	1,133 acres	79 ft
85	Jay Gould Lake	Itasca	13 ft	552 acres	33 ft
86	Swan Lake	Itasca	13.5 ft	2,456 acres	65 ft
87	Crystal Lake	Cass	16 ft	190 acres	40 ft
88	Rush Island Lake	Itasca	10.8 ft	297 acres	32 ft
89	North Twin Lake	Beltrami	17.4 ft	326 acres	59 ft
90	Little Big Lake	Beltrami	9.3 ft	3,598 acres	35 ft
91	Jessie Lake	Beltrami	4.6 ft	3,598 acres	35 ft
92	North Star Lake	Itasca	19 ft	832 acres	90 ft
93	Pleasant Lake	Cass	15.5 ft	1,099 acres	72 ft
94	Little Bass Lake	Beltrami	16 ft	363 acres	22 ft
95	Helen Lake	Itasca	8 ft	158 acres	33 ft
96	Roosevelt Lake	Cass	11.1 ft	1,511 acres	129 ft
97	Webb Lake	Cass	18 ft	720 acres	84 ft
98	Elk Lake	Clearwater	12 ft	303 acres	93 ft
99	Ames Lake	Itasca	10 ft	564 acres	51 ft
100	Bemidji Lake	Beltrami	12.5 ft	6,596 acres	76 ft