Largest lakes & reservoirs in Michigan by water volume
The estimated volume of water that a lake contains is measured at the lake’s normal elevation. By this measure, the world’s largest freshwater lake is Siberia’s Lake Baikal.Water Volume can be measured in acre-feet, in cubic miles, or in cubic kilometers. One acre-foot is the amount of water needed to cover one acre (43,560 square feet) to a depth of one foot. One cubic mile equals 3,379,200 acre-feet. One cubic kilometer equals 810,713 acre-feet. 1 acre-foot is equal to 325,851 US gallons. Siberia’s Lake Baikal contains about 6,276,367,740,000,000 gallons of freshwater – nearly 1 million gallons for every living person on earth.
The other – and more widely used – measure of a lake’s size is the lake’s surface acreage. By that measure, the world’s largest freshwater lake is North America’s Lake Superior.
Note: In the United States, an acre foot is a unit of volume used to refer to large-scale bodies of water. It is defined by the volume of water needed to cover 1 acre of surface area to a depth of 1 foot.
You can find many of the the world’s largest lakes (by water volume) on LakeLubbers. Note: For some lakes, the water volume data is unknown or does not apply, so you may see fewer lakes than the total 90 articles we have published for Michigan lakes.
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Below are lakes within USA > US Midwest Region > Michigan > Compared by water volume. This list does not represent all lakes in Michigan, only the 90 Michigan lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name  |
Water vol. in ac-ft |
Lake description |
|---|---|---|
| Lake Superior (Canada, Great Lakes of North America, Lake Superior Northwoods Region, WI, Michigan, Minnesota, Northeast Minnesota, Ontario, Canada, US Midwest Region, USA, Upper Peninsula Region, MI, Wisconsin) |
9,799,680,000 ac-ft | Skipping over state and country borders, Lake Superior, the largest, deepest, coldest, cleanest, least developed, and most pristine of the Great Lakes… |
| Lake Michigan-Huron (Canada, Chicagoland Region, IL, Great Lakes of North America, Illinois, Indiana, Lake Michigan Region, WI, Michigan, North Indiana, Northeast Michigan, Northwest Michigan, Ontario, Canada, Southwest Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA, Upper Peninsula Region, MI, West Central Michigan, Wisconsin) |
6,858,776,000 ac-ft | Lake Michigan and Lake Huron – two of North America’s Great Lakes – are contiguous and they share the same elevation of 577 feet above sea level. They… |
| Lake Michigan (Chicagoland Region, IL, Great Lakes of North America, Illinois, Indiana, Lake Michigan Region, WI, Michigan, North Indiana, Northwest Michigan, Southwest Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA, Upper Peninsula Region, MI, West Central Michigan, Wisconsin) |
3,987,456,000 ac-ft | As the only Great Lake nestled completely within the boundaries of the United States, Lake Michigan is the pride and joy of Wisconsin, Illinois, India… |
| Lake Huron (Canada, East Central Michigan, Great Lakes of North America, Michigan, Northeast Michigan, Ontario, Canada, US Midwest Region, USA, Upper Peninsula Region, MI) |
2,872,320,000 ac-ft | A glacial lake of epic proportions, Lake Huron is the second largest of the five Great Lakes by surface area, boasting 23,010 square miles and an incr… |
| Lake Erie (Canada, Chautauqua-Allegheny Region, NY, Great Lakes Region, PA, Great Lakes of North America, Greater Niagara Region, NY, Michigan, New York, Northeast Ohio, Northwest Ohio, Ohio, Ontario, Canada, Pennsylvania, Southeast Michigan, US Mid-Atlantic Region, US Midwest Region, USA) |
391,987,200 ac-ft | Lake Erie, one of the Great Lakes of North America, straddles the borders of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, and the Canadian province of Onta… |
| Lake Saint Clair, MI / Canada (Canada, Michigan, Ontario, Canada, Southeast Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA) |
2,770,944 ac-ft | (Also known as Lake St. Clair) Heart-shaped Lake Saint Clair is the smallest body of water in the Great Lakes system. Tucked between Lake Huron to the north and Lake Erie to the sou… |
| Torch Lake, MI (Michigan, Northwest Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA) |
2,635,927 ac-ft | 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… |
| Mullett Lake, MI (Michigan, Northeast Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA) |
613,777 ac-ft | 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… |
| Higgins Lake, MI (Michigan, Northeast Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA) |
459,000 ac-ft | With depths that average 52 feet and range as deep as 141 feet, the azure waters of Higgins Lake assure a remarkable transparency. Such crystalline wa… |
| Houghton Lake, MI (Michigan, Northeast Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA) |
165,072 ac-ft | Houghton Lake is a shallow, marshy lake with a sandy, gravely bottom. Warm in the summer, freezing over during the winter months, and staying cool dur… |
| Muskegon Lake (Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA, West Central Michigan) |
101,635 ac-ft | (Also known as Lake Muskegon) One of Michigan’s little-known vacation hotspots is Muskegon Lake. Lake Muskegon, as it is sometimes called, has been a major port on the eastern Lake… |
| Lake Bellaire (Michigan, Northwest Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA) |
75,396 ac-ft | (Also known as Grass Lake) Michigan has a bounty of beautiful lakes, and those found in Antrim County are no exception. Lake Bellaire is situated to the east of Lake Michigan; t… |