Largest lakes & reservoirs in Tennessee 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 33 articles we have published for Tennessee lakes.
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Below are lakes within USA > US South Region > Tennessee > Compared by water volume. This list does not represent all lakes in Tennessee, only the 33 Tennessee lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name  |
Water vol. in ac-ft |
Lake description |
|---|---|---|
| Kentucky Lake, KY/TN (Kentucky, Tennessee, US South Region, USA, West Tennessee, Western Waterlands Region, KY) |
4,008,000 ac-ft | Kentucky Lake is the largest man-made lake east of the Mississippi when measured by surface acres at “full pond,” the normal water level: 184 miles lo… |
| Cherokee Lake, TN (East Tennessee, Tennessee, US South Region, USA) |
1,460,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Cherokee Reservoir) Cherokee Lake: Artists stop at Clinch Mountain Overlook to paint it, and photographers to photograph it, and every year millions of people come from a… |
| Douglas Lake, TN (East Tennessee, Tennessee, US South Region, USA) |
1,419,700 ac-ft | (Also known as Douglas Reservoir) Douglas Lake, also known as Douglas Reservoir, stretches out over more than 28,000 acres and 500 shoreline miles in eastern Tennessee. Douglas Lake is… |
| Lake Guntersville, AL (Alabama, East Tennessee, Mountains Region, AL, Tennessee, US South Region, USA) |
1,049,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Guntersville Lake, Guntersville Reservoir) Alabama’s Mountain Region contains the state’s largest lake: Lake Guntersville. Cradled in the Appalachian foothills of northern Alabama, it’s located… |
| Pickwick Lake, AL/MS/TN (Alabama, Hills Region, MS, Mississippi, Mountains Region, AL, Tennessee, US South Region, USA, West Tennessee) |
492,700 ac-ft | (Also known as Pickwick Reservoir) Pickwick Lake is a 43,100-acre reservoir created by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) with construction of Pickwick Landing Dam across the Tennesse… |
| Center Hill Lake, TN (Middle Tennessee, Tennessee, US South Region, USA) |
492,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Center Hill Reservoir) Center Hill Lake is almost completely surrounded by the beautiful hardwood forested hills of the Tennessee Eastern Highlands. Center Hill Lake has 18,… |
| Old Hickory Lake, TN (Middle Tennessee, Tennessee, US South Region, USA) |
420,000 ac-ft | Only half an hour outside of Nashville, Old Hickory Lake offers outdoor recreational opportunities for millions of visitors to the middle region of Te… |
| Chickamauga Lake, TN (East Tennessee, Tennessee, US South Region, USA) |
392,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Chickamauga Reservoir) Chickamauga Lake is a fabulous recreational reservoir. It is located in southeast Tennessee, 20 miles from Chattanooga, and includes 810 miles of shor… |
| Tims Ford Lake, TN (Middle Tennessee, Tennessee, US South Region, USA) |
325,400 ac-ft | (Also known as Tims Ford Reservoir) Nestled in south central Tennessee between Tullahoma and Winchester, the clear, deep water of the Elk River meets the wooded sloped shores of Tims For… |
| Watauga Lake, TN (East Tennessee, Tennessee, US South Region, USA) |
324,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Lake Watauga) Watauga Lake exudes independence, solitude, and nature’s bounty. If these traditional American values appeal to you, then you need to visit pristine W… |
| Tellico Reservoir, TN (East Tennessee, Tennessee, US South Region, USA) |
304,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Tellico Lake) About 30 minutes south of Knoxville, nestled in the mountains of eastern Tennessee, Tellico Lake is the lake that almost wasn’t. Extending 33 miles al… |
| Fort Loudoun Lake, TN (East Tennessee, Tennessee, US South Region, USA) |
282,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Fort Loudoun Reservoir) Named for a nearby 18th century British fort, Fort Loudoun Lake draws millions of visitors every year for fishing, boating, and wildlife viewing. Loca… |