Otter Tail County

The lakes of Otter Tail County

1,074 lakes · 160,529 acres · 150 with measured depth · 101 with a public access · 94 stocked

Otter Tail County has 1,074 lakes of 10 acres or more in Minnesota DNR hydrography, 438 of them named, covering 160,529 acres of water. The largest is Otter Tail Lake at 14,079 acres; the deepest measured is Six Lake at 140 ft. Minnesota DNR has a measured maximum depth for 150 lakes here. The Census counts 253 square miles of water in the county, 11% of its area.

Lake outlines and acres: Minnesota DNR hydrography (lakes, ponds and reservoirs of 10 acres or more, 1 of them mine-pit lakes, each counted once: a lake mapped in bays as the whole lake, a border water by its Minnesota side; 22 lakes the DNR files under no county are placed here by the Census county line). Depths: Minnesota DNR LakeFinder and lake survey contours, fetched 26 Oct 2026. County line and water area: U.S. Census TIGER. Lake data: Minnesota DNR (General Data and Software License). Not for navigation.

Largest lakes

196 lakes in Otter Tail County cover 100 acres or more. The 12 largest are listed here; the full register of 438 named lakes follows.

Acres: Minnesota DNR hydrography. Nearest town: U.S. Census 2024 Gazetteer. Deepest: Minnesota DNR LakeFinder (the survey's maximum depth, else the deepest survey contour). Clarity: average measured Secchi depth, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and volunteer readings via LakeFinder. Accesses: Minnesota DNR public water access sites. Stocking: Minnesota DNR stocking reports, by year. Fetched 26 Oct 2026.

Lakes that share a name

39 names belong to more than one lake in Otter Tail County, 121 lakes in all. The most repeated is Mud Lake, with 15. Each lake is listed with its nearest town, the way people search for them.

Names: USGS GNIS and Minnesota DNR hydrography. Acres: Minnesota DNR hydrography; depth: Minnesota DNR LakeFinder, fetched 26 Oct 2026. Nearest town: U.S. Census 2024 Gazetteer.

Deepest lakes

7 lakes in Otter Tail County are 100 ft deep or more by Minnesota DNR survey. Six Lake is the deepest at 140 ft, then Rose Lake near Vergas (137 ft), Long Lake near Vergas (128 ft) and Otter Tail Lake (120 ft). The other 288 named lakes have no measured depth on record.

Minnesota DNR LakeFinder maximum depths and lake survey contours, fetched 26 Oct 2026.

Clearest water

Clarity is the depth at which a black-and-white Secchi disk disappears from view. 93 lakes in Otter Tail County have measured readings, 337 in all; the middle lake averages 11 ft. The clearest is Middle Lake at about 25 ft, then Eagle Lake (22 ft), Little McDonald Lake (22 ft) and Fladmark Lake (21 ft). The least clear is Orwell Lake at about 3 ft. Clarity is not a test for bacteria or algae toxins.

Average of measured Secchi readings, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and volunteers, via Minnesota DNR LakeFinder, fetched 26 Oct 2026.

Public water access

Minnesota DNR lists 124 public water access sites on 101 lakes in Otter Tail County; 112 take a boat trailer. The other 337 named lakes have no public access site in the DNR record, so their shores may be private.

Minnesota DNR public water access sites, fetched 26 Oct 2026. The record has no open or closed status.

Fishing

Minnesota DNR lake surveys have recorded fish in 120 lakes in Otter Tail County: walleye in 86, northern pike in 98, largemouth bass in 112 and muskellunge in 5. Minnesota DNR stocking reports list 94 lakes stocked here between 2016 and 2025, 775 stockings in all. Walleye went into 91 lakes. In 2025, the latest year on record, 67 lakes were stocked.

Species recorded in Minnesota DNR lake surveys (game fish by DNR's own list) and Minnesota DNR stocking reports, which give the year, not the day; via LakeFinder, fetched 26 Oct 2026. How we measure

Invasive species

Minnesota DNR lists at least one invasive species for 79 lakes in Otter Tail County: zebra mussel in 78, flowering rush in 4 and starry stonewort in 1. Moving water, plants or animals between lakes spreads them; DNR's rules apply at every access.

Minnesota DNR invasive species designations, as listed in LakeFinder, fetched 26 Oct 2026.

Lake pages in Otter Tail County

28 lakes here have a page of their own, with a depth map drawn from Minnesota DNR survey contours, the stocking record and the latest fish survey.

Chosen by search demand: Google Keyword Planner, October 2026. How we measure

Alerts

Common questions