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 |
|---|---|---|
| Mullett Lake, MI (Michigan, Northeast Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA) |
17,360 ac | Mullett Lake is Michigan’s fifth largest lake, covering 17,360 acres with 28 shoreline miles. Sitting at the center of Michigan’s Inland Waterway, Mul… |
| Trinity Lake, CA (California, Shasta Cascade Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
17,280 ac | Also known as Clair Engle Lake In 1976 Tim Brady from Weaverville caught the California record smallmouth bass in Trinity Lake. The quiet lake still draws anglers today, both for th… |
| Lake Charlevoix, MI (Michigan, Northwest Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA) |
17,256 ac | Also known as Pine Lake Lake Charlevoix is one of the most famous of northern Michigan lakes primarily because of its popularity among boaters of all types. Originally called… |
| Spednic Lake (Aroostook County, ME, Canada, Down East & Acadia Region, ME, Maine, New Brunswick, Canada, US New England Region, USA) |
17,219 ac | A lone canoe glides through the water of Spednic Lake with only a pair of loons for company. Unknowingly dancing between two countries, the canoeist s… |
| Strawberry Reservoir, UT (Mountainland Region, UT, US West Region, USA, Utah) |
17,164 ac | Also known as The Berry Strawberry Reservoir, known locally as The Berry, is Utah’s most popular fishing spot. Located in Wasatch County, a convenient 65 miles east of the Wa… |
| 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… |
| Slocan Lake (British Columbia, Canada, Canada) |
17,114 ac | Also known as The Slocan Beautiful Slocan Lake occupies a scenic portion of British Columbia’s Slocan River Valley. This natural undammed lake is unusual as it has no major ri… |
| Pymatuning Lake, PA/OH (Great Lakes Region, PA, Northeast Ohio, Ohio, Pennsylvania, US Mid-Atlantic Region, US Midwest Region, USA) |
17,088 ac | Also known as Pymatuning Reservoir Pymatuning Lake, located in northwestern Pennsylvania and spilling over into northeastern Ohio, is a lake of superlatives: Clocking in at 17,088 acres… |
| William ‘Bill’ Dannelly Reservoir, AL (Alabama, River Heritage Region, AL, US South Region, USA) |
17,000 ac | Also known as Lake Dannelly, Millers Ferry, Dannelly Reservoir, Millers Ferry Reservoir, Millers Ferry Lake Along the Alabama River in the River Heritage region of the state, visitors will find the William “Bill” Dannelly Reservoir. Located an hour southwest… |
| Kaw Lake, KS/OK (Kansas, Oklahoma, Red Carpet Country, OK, South Central Kansas, US Midwest Region, US Southwest Region, USA) |
17,000 ac | Also known as Kaw Reservoir Kaw Lake is a large lake covering an area of 17,000 acres. Its three fingerlike “arms” lie in two midwestern states, Oklahoma and Kansas. Kaw Lake is… |
| Bafa Lake (Turkey) |
16,951 ac | Also known as Lake Bafa, Bafa Golu Bafa Lake has been eyewitness to history since before mankind began recording it. This lake in western Turkey was once a bay of the Gulf of Miletus on… |
| Volvi Lake (Central Macedonia Region, Greece, Greece, Thessaloniki Region, Central Macedonia) |
16,803 ac | Also known as Limni Volvi Millions of years ago an enormous lake stretched across the entire Mygdonian Basin in Greece. Lake Volvi and Lake Koronia, nestled in the lowest part… |