Largest lakes & reservoirs in 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 2151 articles we have published for lakes.
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Below are lakes within Compared by surface area in acres. This list does not represent all lakes in , only the 2151 lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name  |
Surface area in acres |
Lake description |
|---|---|---|
| Lake Fort Gibson, OK (Green Country, OK, Oklahoma, US Southwest Region, USA) |
19,900 ac | Also known as Fort Gibson Reservoir or Fort Gibson Lake Fort Gibson is a historic place in United States military history. It was significant to many military expeditions; it was a site of negotiations, int… |
| Dworshak Reservoir, ID (Idaho, North Central Idaho, US West Region, USA) |
19,824 ac | Dworshak Reservoir is an excellent outdoor recreation site with a great water playground of over 19,000 acres. Located in northern Idaho near the town… |
| Lake Rotorua, New Zealand (New Zealand, North Island, NZ, Rotorua Region, North Island, NZ) |
19,714 ac | What greeting will you hear when you come to Lake Rotorua on New Zealand’s North Island? Kia ora!! Kia ora means ‘Be healthy’ or ‘well’ in the Maori l… |
| Lake Chiemsee (Bavaria Region, Germany, Germany) |
19,571 ac | Lake Chiemsee is the crown jewel of Bavaria’s tourist region. Located about half-way between Munich and Salzburg, Austria, Lake Chiemsee has been a fa… |
| San Carlos Lake, AZ (Arizona, North Central Arizona, US Southwest Region, USA) |
19,500 ac | San Carlos Lake is on the San Carlos Apache Native American Reservation in north-central Arizona. With 19,500 surface acres of water when full, San Ca… |
| O. H. Ivie Lake (Hill Country Region, TX, Texas, US Southwest Region, USA) |
19,149 ac | Also known as Lake Ivie, Stacy Reservoir On a hot summer day in the northern Hill Country region of Texas, Lake Ivie is an ideal place to be. Officially named O.H.Ivie Reservoir, the waters a… |
| Pitt Lake (British Columbia, Canada, Canada) |
19,019 ac | North America’s largest freshwater tidal lake is impressive 19,000-acre Pitt Lake near Vancouver. Nestled in a valley north of the Fraser River, Pitt… |
| Lake Oconee, GA (Classic South Region, GA, Georgia, Historic Heartland Region, GA, US South Region, USA) |
18,971 ac | Lake Oconee takes its name from a group of Creek Indians that long ago lived close to Georgia’s Oconee River basin. “Oconee” is purported to mean “gre… |
| Rend Lake, IL (Illinois, Southern Illinois, US Midwest Region, USA) |
18,900 ac | Rend Lake, located in southern Illinois, is a fantastic place to enjoy all sorts of outdoor recreational activities. This reservoir, the second larges… |
| Lake Tohopekaliga, FL (East Central Florida, Florida, US South Region, USA) |
18,810 ac | Also known as Lake Toho Lake Tohopekaliga is world renowned for its bass fishing and loved for its natural beauty. It is located in Osceola County, Florida, at the headwaters… |
| Torch Lake, MI (Michigan, Northwest Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA) |
18,770 ac | Torch Lake holds the dual distinction as Michigan’s longest inland lake (18 miles) and its second largest inland lake (18,770 acres). The lake’s unpar… |
| Lake O’ the Pines (Piney Woods Region, TX, Texas, US Southwest Region, USA) |
18,680 ac | Also known as Ferrell's Bridge Reservoir-historic For many people in the Texas Piney Woods region, ‘let’s go to the lake!’ means Lake O’ The Pines. This extraordinary reservoir was built primarily for… |