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Largest lakes & reservoirs in Southwest Illinois by shoreline length

The length of the exterior shoreline around a lake is measured at the lake’s normal elevation. The shoreline length can be considerably shorter or longer when lake water levels are lower or higher than normal. A lake with many coves has a much longer shoreline than a lake of similar surface area that is nearly circular in shape.

When known, the shoreline miles that we report in our statistics include only the lake’s exterior shoreline, and exclude the shorelines of islands located within a lake’s boundaries. In lakes with many islands, those islands’ combined shorelines may exceed a lake’s exterior shoreline.

You can find many of the world’s longest-shoreline lakes on LakeLubbers. Note: For some lakes, "Longest Shorelines" data is unknown or does not apply, so this table may display fewer lakes than the total 5 articles we have published for Southwest Illinois lakes.

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Search results: Sort lakes by miles of shoreline


Below are lakes within USA > US Midwest Region > Illinois > Southwest Illinois > Compared by longest shoreline length in miles. This list does not represent all lakes in Southwest Illinois, only the 5 Southwest Illinois lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.