Largest lakes & reservoirs in Minnesota 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 116 articles we have published for Minnesota lakes.
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Below are lakes within USA > US Midwest Region > Minnesota > Compared by water volume. This list does not represent all lakes in Minnesota, only the 116 Minnesota 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 of the Woods, MN / Canada (Canada, Manitoba, Canada, Minnesota, Northwest Minnesota, Ontario, Canada, US Midwest Region, USA) |
15,700,000 ac-ft | Spanning the border from Minnesota into the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba, Lake of the Woods is an enormous body of water over 68 miles l… |
| Mille Lacs Lake, MN (Central Minnesota, Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
2,782,736 ac-ft | (Also known as Lake Mille Lacs) August 2015 Update: The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources issued an order August 2, 2015 banning walleye fishing for the rest of the season. T… |
| Upper Red Lake, MN (Minnesota, Northwest Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
2,129,000 ac-ft | Nestled in the Northwest Region of Minnesota, Upper Red Lake has an incredible comeback story and is becoming a popular vacation place for the second… |
| Cass Lake, MN (Minnesota, Northwest Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
1,399,425 ac-ft | Cass Lake is, without a doubt, one of Minnesota’s natural treasures. Its scenic beauty is only surpassed by its rich history, unique features and the… |
| Kabetogama Lake, MN (Minnesota, Northeast Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
643,453 ac-ft | (Also known as Lake Kabetogama) Located just a few miles from the Canadian border in St. Louis County, Minnesota’s Kabetogama Lake is every bit as unique as its name implies. This fr… |
| Leech Lake, MN (Minnesota, Northwest Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
621,640 ac-ft | With over 120,000 acres of water and 316 miles of shoreline, Leech Lake is the third largest lake located entirely in Minnesota, the “Land of 10,000 L… |
| Otter Tail Lake, MN (Central Minnesota, Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
506,000 ac-ft | 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 Pepin, MN/WI (Minnesota, Mississippi-Chippewa Rivers Region, WI, Southern Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA, Wisconsin) |
450,000 ac-ft | Lake Pepin is the largest lake on the Mississippi River, formed about 9,500 years ago by the backup of water behind sediments where the Chippewa River… |
| Lake Minnetonka, MN (Minneapolis-St. Paul Metro Region, MN, Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
400,000 ac-ft | Lake Minnetonka’s 14,000 acres contain many bays and coves, resembling a collection of smaller lakes. “Minnetonka” comes from the Sioux language meani… |
| Lake Winnibigoshish, MN (Minnesota, Northeast Minnesota, Northwest Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
220,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Lake Winnie) Lake Winnibigoshish is a legend among Minnesota lakes. The lake’s impressive size, covering more than 58,500 acres, reaches into both the Northwest an… |
| Deer Lake, MN (Minnesota, Northeast Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
168,811 ac-ft | (Also known as Lake of Changing Colors) Often called the “Lake of Changing Colors,” Deer Lake is a jewel in Minnesota’s northwoods country. Located northwest of Grand Rapids in south-central… |