Largest lakes & reservoirs in Nevada 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 13 articles we have published for Nevada lakes.
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Below are lakes within USA > US West Region > Nevada > Compared by surface area in acres. This list does not represent all lakes in Nevada, only the 13 Nevada lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name  |
Surface area in acres |
Lake description |
|---|---|---|
| Lake Mead, AZ/NV (Arizona, Las Vegas Territory, NV, Nevada, US Southwest Region, US West Region, USA, West Coast Region, AZ) |
157,900 ac | Lake Mead is the USA’s largest man-made reservoir in amount of water it can hold. Although Lake Powell is marginally larger in acreage at full-pond, L… |
| Lake Tahoe, CA/NV (California, High Sierra Region, CA, Nevada, Renoe-Tahoe Territory, NV, US West Region, USA) |
122,000 ac | Tucked into the Sierra Nevada Mountains and straddling the California-Nevada state line, Lake Tahoe is one of the most famous lakes in the United Stat… |
| Pyramid Lake, NV (Nevada, Renoe-Tahoe Territory, NV, US West Region, USA) |
117,400 ac | Pyramid Lake is a true natural wonder located in the Pyramid Lake Paiute Indian Reservation in western Nevada. Covering 117,400 acres, it is the third… |
| Walker Lake, NV (Nevada, Nevada Silver Trails, NV, US West Region, USA) |
32,192 ac | Walker Lake is a natural lake located in rural Mineral County, Nevada about 75 miles southeast of Reno, Nevada. It is one of several freshwater termin… |
| Lake Mohave, AZ/NV (Arizona, Las Vegas Territory, NV, Nevada, US Southwest Region, US West Region, USA, West Coast Region, AZ) |
28,260 ac | Lake Mohave is a man-made reservoir on the Colorado River that spans 28,260 acres. It is a part of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, and was cre… |
| Ruby Lake, NV (Cowboy Country, NV, Nevada, US West Region, USA) |
17,125 ac | Also known as Ruby Marsh Perhaps the last thing one would expect to find in the deserts of northeastern Nevada is a marsh. But Ruby Lake is just that: a 17,125 acre marsh and… |
| Rye Patch Reservoir, NV (Cowboy Country, NV, Nevada, US West Region, USA) |
10,820 ac | Rye Patch Reservoir is located on the Humboldt River in Pershing County, Nevada. The reservoir was completed in 1936 and provides flood control and ir… |
| Lahontan Reservoir, NV (Nevada, Pony Express Territory, NV, US West Region, USA) |
10,600 ac | Also known as Lake Lahontan Lahontan Reservoir is located about 45 miles northeast of Carson City, Nevada, on the Carson River. The Lahontan Dam was completed in 1915 and impound… |
| Washoe Lake, NV (Nevada, Renoe-Tahoe Territory, NV, US West Region, USA) |
5,800 ac | Washoe Lake, along with the smaller Little Washoe Lakes, is located in western Nevada between Carson City and Reno. Nestled in peaceful Washoe Valley,… |
| Wild Horse Reservoir, NV (Cowboy Country, NV, Nevada, US West Region, USA) |
2,830 ac | Also known as Wildhorse Reservoir Wild Horse Reservoir, also known as Wildhorse Reservoir, is located along the Owyhee River in the deserts of northeastern Nevada near the Idaho border… |
| Topaz Lake, CA/NV (California, High Sierra Region, CA, Nevada, Renoe-Tahoe Territory, NV, US West Region, USA) |
2,410 ac | Also known as Topaz Reservoir Topaz Lake is a man-made reservoir located on the border of Nevada and California, about 75 miles south of Reno, Nevada. The reservoir was built on th… |
| South Fork Reservoir, NV (Cowboy Country, NV, Nevada, US West Region, USA) |
1,640 ac | South Fork Reservoir is located on the south fork of the Humboldt River about 16 miles south of Elko in northern Nevada. Although the South Fork Dam w… |