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 |
|---|---|---|
| Otter Tail Lake, MN (Central Minnesota, Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
13,725 ac | With over 13,000 acres of water and 22 miles of shoreline, Otter Tail Lake is the largest lake in Otter Tail County and is located in the Central tour… |
| Lake Limestone (Prairies and Lakes Region, TX, Texas, US Southwest Region, USA) |
13,680 ac | One of the best-kept secret destinations in the Prairies and Lakes Region of Texas is Lake Limestone. The reservoir was created in 1978 when the Brazo… |
| Whitefish Chain of Lakes (Central Minnesota, Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
13,660 ac | Also known as Pine River Reservoir Whitefish Chain of Lakes, also known as the Pine River Reservoir, is one of six Mississippi River Headwater Reservoirs in central Minnesota. Located i… |
| Lake Wylie (North Carolina, Olde English District, SC, Piedmont Region, NC, South Carolina, US South Region, USA) |
13,443 ac | Also known as Lake Wylie Reservoir Spanning the North Carolina-South Carolina border, Lake Wylie is the oldest reservoir on the Catawba River. First dammed in 1904, the dam was rebuilt… |
| Iowa Great Lakes (Iowa, Northwest Iowa, US Midwest Region, USA) |
13,420 ac | Also known as Big Spirit Lake, Little Spirit Lake, West Okoboji Lake, East Okoboji Lake, Gar Lakes, Center Lake, Silver Lake Most of the world equates Iowa with corn fields and election-year Straw Polls and has never heard of Iowa’s Great Lakes. Nestled in the Northwest Regi… |
| DeGray Lake, AR (Arkansas, Ouachitas Region, AR, US South Region, USA) |
13,400 ac | DeGray Lake is nestled in the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains, in an area logically known as the Ouachita Mountain Region of Arkansas. This sectio… |
| Lake Ohau, New Zealand (Marlborough Region, South Island, NZ, New Zealand, South Island, NZ) |
13,344 ac | Lake Ohau, in the Mackenzie Basin of the Waitaki District, South Island is an often overlooked lake and mountain paradise. The smallest of three paral… |
| Hugo Lake, OK (Kiamichi Country, OK, Oklahoma, US Southwest Region, USA) |
13,250 ac | Over 8,000 acres of open water await you at Hugo Lake, Oklahoma. Located in the beautiful Kiamichi Country of southeastern Oklahoma, this outdoor para… |
| Harlan County Lake, NE (Frontier Trails Region, NE, Nebraska, US Midwest Region, USA) |
13,250 ac | Harlan County Lake covers an impressive 13,250 acres in south-central Nebraska’s Frontier Trails region. Just seven miles from the Nebraska / Kansas s… |
| Abraham Lake (Alberta, Canada, Canada) |
13,248 ac | Also known as Lake Abraham Abraham Lake is Alberta’s largest reservoir, gracing the Kootenay Plains area of the Canadian Rockies’ front range. The reservoir, created by damming… |
| Tule Lake, CA (California, Shasta Cascade Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
13,240 ac | Tule Lake, located near the California/Oregon border, comprises about 13,240 acres of the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge. The Tule Lake Basin has… |
| Chautauqua Lake, NY (Chautauqua-Allegheny Region, NY, New York, US Mid-Atlantic Region, USA) |
13,156 ac | Also known as Lake Chautauqua Chautauqua Lake, located in idyllic Western New York state, has been a destination for vacationers for more than a century. At 1,308 feet above sea le… |