Best Lakes in the Brainerd Lakes Area: Gull, Whitefish, Pelican & More

The Brainerd Lakes Area is roughly two hours north of the Twin Cities in Crow Wing and southern Cass counties, and it packs more big recreational lakes into a short drive than anywhere else in Minnesota. Short version: Gull for resorts and boating, the Whitefish Chain for exploring, Pelican for swimming, Mille Lacs for walleye, and Cuyuna for clear water and paddling. Sizes and regulations below are from Minnesota DNR lake data, verified in 2026.

Quick comparison

Lake	Size	Max depth	Best for
Gull	10,010 acres	80 ft	Resorts, boating, dining by boat
Whitefish	7,714 acres	138 ft	Chain cruising, mixed fishing
Pelican	8,367 acres	104 ft	Swimming, sand, smallmouth bass
North Long	6,190 acres	97 ft	Quieter big-lake boating
Edward	2,628 acres	75 ft	Family cabins, panfish
Mille Lacs	128,250 acres	42 ft	Walleye, smallmouth, muskie
Portsmouth Mine (Cuyuna)	149 acres	395 ft	Paddling, trout, clarity

Gull Lake

Gull is the name most people know, and it is the center of the resort scene around Nisswa, Lake Shore and East Gull Lake. The main lake is about 10,000 acres and connects to Upper Gull, Margaret, Nisswa, Roy and Round lakes, so there is room to roam. Several resorts and restaurants have docks, and the Army Corps of Engineers runs a campground at the dam on the south end that books through Recreation.gov.

Best for: a first Brainerd trip, pontoon days, tubing and skiing, staying somewhere with a golf course attached.

Fishing: walleye, largemouth and smallmouth bass, northern pike and panfish. The DNR's 2026 listing protects pike from 30 to 40 inches on Gull and its connected lakes, with a possession limit of two and one over 40 inches.

Downsides: it is busy. Midsummer weekends bring heavy wake traffic, and the lake has zebra mussels and Eurasian watermilfoil, so water shoes help and boat cleaning is mandatory.

The Whitefish Chain

North of Gull around Crosslake, the Whitefish Chain is the region's best lake system for people who like to go somewhere by boat. Whitefish itself is about 7,700 acres and 138 feet deep; from it you can run through channels to Cross Lake, Rush-Hen, Daggett, Big Trout, Lower Hay, Bertha, Clamshell and others without trailering.

Best for: all-day pontoon cruising, sandbar stops, mixed-bag fishing. Big Trout, at 128 feet deep, is the clear, cold end of the chain.

Fishing: walleye, pike, bass and crappie, with tullibee as the forage base. The whole chain has a daily limit of five crappie and five sunfish under 2026 DNR rules, half the usual statewide limit for crappie and a quarter for sunfish, intended to protect size quality.

Camping: the Corps of Engineers campground at the Crosslake dam is right on the chain. For a quieter, cheaper option, the DNR's Clint Converse campground on Washburn Lake in Land O'Lakes State Forest is first-come at $17 a night.

Downsides: channels bottleneck on holiday weekends, and the big basin of Whitefish gets rough in a northwest wind.

Pelican Lake

Pelican, next to Breezy Point, is about 8,400 acres with a maximum depth of 104 feet and a lot of hard sand bottom. The water is clear and the shoreline shelves gradually in many places, which is why families like it.

Best for: swimming, sandbar anchoring and smallmouth bass.

Downsides: it is a wide, round basin with little shelter, so afternoon wind turns it choppy. Zebra mussels are established.

Nearby, the Pelican Beach day-use area in Crow Wing State Forest has a notably fine sand beach, with the DNR's Greer Lake campground a short drive away.

Other lakes worth knowing

• North Long Lake (6,190 acres), between Brainerd and Nisswa on Highway 371, has big-lake room with less resort traffic than Gull.
• Lake Edward (2,628 acres) and Round Lake (1,650 acres) are solid cabin lakes with good panfish and bass.
• Bay Lake (2,330 acres) and Serpent Lake (1,116 acres), east toward Deerwood and Crosby, are quieter and pair well with a Cuyuna day.

Mille Lacs

Mille Lacs is not in the Brainerd Lakes proper, but Garrison is close enough that it belongs in any plan. At about 128,000 acres and only 42 feet deep, it is a shallow inland sea, and it behaves like one in wind. Small boats should stay near shore or hire a launch (a large guided party boat), which is the traditional way to fish it.

The fishing is the draw: walleye, trophy smallmouth bass and muskellunge. The regulations are unlike any other Minnesota lake and are reset annually. For the season that began May 9, 2026, the DNR lists a walleye limit of three, all over 17 inches with only one over 20 inches, along with a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. night fishing closure from May 11 through August 31, with narrow exceptions. Bass, pike and perch have their own Mille Lacs rules too. Check the DNR's fishing regulations the week you go, because in-season changes happen.

Father Hennepin and Mille Lacs Kathio state parks give you beach and campground access on the south end.

Cuyuna

East of Brainerd at Crosby and Ironton, the Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area is built around abandoned iron mines that filled with groundwater. The DNR counts 15 deep mine lakes and six natural lakes with about 25 miles of undeveloped shoreline, wrapped in more than 50 miles of mountain bike trail.

The pits are something else: steep red-rock walls, blue-green water with exceptional clarity, and startling depth. Portsmouth Mine Lake is 149 acres and about 395 feet deep; Huntington is about 258 feet. Several are stocked with rainbow trout.

Best for: kayaks, canoes and paddleboards, trout fishing, scuba, and combining a paddle with a bike ride.

Downsides: there is almost no shallow water. The bottom falls away within a few feet of shore, the water stays cold below the surface, and there are no guarded beaches. Wear a life jacket on a paddleboard here. The backstory is in our guide to mine pit lakes.

Bottom line

• Pick by activity, not by fame: Gull for amenities, Whitefish for cruising, Pelican for swimming, Cuyuna for paddling, Mille Lacs for walleye.
• Check lake-specific regulations before you fish. Gull, the Whitefish Chain and Mille Lacs all differ from statewide limits.
• Zebra mussels are in most of the big lakes here, so drain and dry everything between lakes. Browse more in Crow Wing County and Cass County, or use the trip planner.