About MinneLakes.org
An independent, free directory of 2,382 Minnesota lakes in 77 counties.
MinneLakes.org exists to answer the questions people actually ask about a lake: how big is it, how deep, what swims in it, can I get a boat on it, is there a beach, and how do I get there. It is not affiliated with the State of Minnesota or any government agency.
Which lakes are listed
Minnesota has 11,842 lakes of 10 acres or more. Most of the small ones have no public access, no fish survey and nothing we could tell you. This directory lists lakes of roughly 100 acres or more that have a DNR fish survey or public access on record, plus smaller lakes (40 acres and up) that have both public access and a recorded fishery. Counties with no qualifying lake do not appear.
Where the data comes from
- Minnesota DNR LakeFinder — lake names, location, acreage, depth, shoreline, water clarity, fish species from fisheries surveys, stocking, invasive species listings, special fishing regulations and public water accesses.
- Minnesota DNR State Climatology Office — ice-out dates and long-term medians.
- OpenStreetMap — swim beaches, campgrounds, fishing piers, picnic sites and marinas, © OpenStreetMap contributors and available under the Open Database License. These features are matched to the nearest lake by location, so an amenity can occasionally be attached to the wrong neighbor.
- National Weather Service — the forecast on each lake page.
The dataset was last built on October 1, 2026. Regulations, stocking and access change; always confirm with the Minnesota DNR before you travel or fish.
How the Lake Score works
The Lake Score is a number from 0 to 100 that we compute from public data. It is not a visitor rating, and there are no user reviews on this site. It adds up:
- Public access (up to 22 points) — a public boat launch scores highest, then other public access, then carry-in or portage.
- Fishery (up to 18) — three points per game species recorded in DNR surveys.
- Size (up to 15) — on a logarithmic scale, so a 1,000-acre lake is not ten times a 100-acre one.
- Water clarity (up to 15) — one point per foot of average clarity.
- Depth (up to 8).
- Amenities (up to 20) — swim beach, campground, fishing pier, marina, picnic area.
- Stocking (2), minus up to 5 points for listed invasive species.
The activity rankings on the Best Lakes pages use the same inputs with different weights. A high score means a lake is big, accessible, well-surveyed and well-equipped. It says nothing about whether it is crowded, and a quiet 80-acre lake with a carry-in access may be exactly what you want.
Corrections
If something is wrong — a beach that closed, a launch that is missing, a lake under the wrong name — email hello@minnelakes.org with the lake name and county.
For AI agents
Lake, county, activity and guide pages are also published as Markdown: append .md to the URL. The index is at /llms.txt.