What lakes are in the Mississippi Headwaters?

487 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 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, 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 2, 2026

Counties in this watershed

Beltrami, Hubbard, Cass, Itasca, Clearwater

Monitored Lakes (487)

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