Largest lakes & reservoirs in Alaska by acres
There is no widely-accepted minimum surface area that defines a lake. What LakeLubbers describes as a lake, you might call a pond. Acreage of a lake (or sometimes square kilometers) is most often measured at the top surface area when the lake is at normal elevation. The surface area can be considerably smaller or larger when lake levels are lower or higher than normal. North America’s Lake Superior is the world’s largest freshwater lake by this measure.The other measure of a lake’s size is the lake’s water volume. By that measure, the world’s largest freshwater lake is Lake Baikal in Siberia.
You can find many of the world’s largest lakes (acres) on LakeLubbers in the comparison table below. Note: For some lakes, "Largest Lakes - Acres" data is unknown or does not apply, so you may see fewer lakes than the total 24 articles we have published for Alaska lakes.
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Below are lakes within USA > US West Region > Alaska > Compared by surface area in acres. This list does not represent all lakes in Alaska, only the 24 Alaska lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name  |
Surface area in acres |
Lake description |
|---|---|---|
| Iliamna Lake, AK (Alaska, Southwest Region, AK, US West Region, USA) |
653,552 ac | Also known as Lake Iliamna Iliamna Lake, also known as Lake Iliamna, is the largest lake in Alaska and the second largest freshwater lake contained wholly within the United Stat… |
| Becharof Lake, AK (Alaska, Southwest Region, AK, US West Region, USA) |
289,705 ac | Becharof Lake, the second* largest lake in Alaska, is located on the Alaskan Peninsula. Stretching an incredible 290,000 acres, the lake measures 35 m… |
| Selawik Lake, AK (Alaska, Far North Region, AK, US West Region, USA) |
262,809 ac | Selawik Lake is located on the Arctic Circle in the the northwestern part of Alaska. Covering an impressive 263,000 acres*, the lake is the third larg… |
| Naknek Lake, AK (Alaska, Southwest Region, AK, US West Region, USA) |
154,880 ac | Naknek Lake is located southwest of Anchorage on the Alaskan Peninsula. The lake is the fifth largest in Alaska, covering 144,315 acres* in the heart… |
| Lake Clark, AK (Alaska, Southwest Region, AK, US West Region, USA) |
76,892 ac | Lake Clark is located about 150 miles southwest of Anchorage in southern Alaska. The lake spans 128 square miles, making it the seventh* largest fresh… |
| Tustumena Lake, AK (Alaska, Southcentral Region, AK, US West Region, USA) |
73,437 ac | Alaska has 17,243 square miles of inland water including both lakes and rivers. The area of inland water is greater than the land mass of Massachusett… |
| Skilak Lake, AK (Alaska, Southcentral Region, AK, US West Region, USA) |
24,711 ac | Tucked away in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge near Soldotna, Skilak Lake is a rare combination of accessibility and Alaskan Wilderness. Called a “… |
| Lake Louise, AK (Alaska, Southcentral Region, AK, US West Region, USA) |
16,102 ac | Also known as Lake Louise State Recreation Area Lake Louise is located in the exciting Matanuska-Susitna Borough (Mat-Su for short) in Alaska. Lake Louise which connects to Susitna Lake boasts that… |
| Kenai Lake, AK (Alaska, Southcentral Region, AK, US West Region, USA) |
13,813 ac | One of the largest glacial lakes in the Kenai River System, Kenai Lake is a beautiful lake in a road-accessible area of Alaska. The backdrop of the ma… |
| Big Lake, AK (Alaska, Southcentral Region, AK, US West Region, USA) |
2,495 ac | There are over 3,000 lakes in the Mat-Su Valley, and Big Lake is one of the largest. The Mat-Su Borough, which is short for Matanuska-Susitna, is 24,0… |
| Harding Lake, AK (Alaska, Interior Region, AK, US West Region, USA) |
2,470 ac | Harding Lake is the largest, deepest, and most easily reached of the four road-accessible lakes within two hours of Fairbanks (Birch Lake, Quartz Lake… |
| Quartz Lake, AK (Alaska, Interior Region, AK, US West Region, USA) |
1,500 ac | Nestled in the middle of majestic mountain peaks, deep in Alaska’s Interior, Quartz Lake is an exceptional place to fish. Its proximity to Fairbanks a… |