This post was updated to include lake types as well, which revealed something very interesting: 80% of these lakes are reservoirs or dammed natural lakes.
Defining the largest lake in a state is not always straightforward. That’s because the largest can be the lake that covers the greatest surface area, the lake that holds the most water, or both.
Let’s take North Carolina for example. Lake Mattamuskeet, which spreads over 63 square miles, is the largest lake in terms of surface area, followed by Lake Norman, which is 51 square miles in size. However, because Lake Mattamuskeet only averages a depth of 2 feet, it holds much less water: 0.024 cubic miles, compared to Lake Norman’s 0.32 cubic miles, a volume that’s 13 times greater than that Lake Mattamuskeet.
However, since most people associate largest with the greatest area, we’ve decided to create this map of the largest lakes in every U.S. state based on surface area. From the Great Salt Lake in Utah, which is the 6th largest lake in the United States, to Lums Pond in Delaware, these lakes come in all shapes and sizes.
It’s interesting to note that many of these lakes, 62% to be precise, are reservoirs. As a matter of fact, reservoirs and dammed natural lakes account for 80% of all the lakes in the list.
Check out the full list below.
| Lake | State | Surface Area (sq mi) | Lake Type |
| Great Salt Lake | Utah | 1700 | Hypersaline |
| Iliamna Lake | Alaska | 1014 | Natural, freshwater |
| Lake Okeechobee | Florida | 730 | Natural, freshwater |
| Lake Pontchartrain | Louisiana | 631 | Natural, saline |
| Lake Sakakawea | North Dakota | 480 | Reservoir |
| Red Lake | Minnesota | 427 | Natural, freshwater |
| Fort Peck Lake | Montana | 382 | Reservoir |
| Salton Sea | California | 343 | Rift lake, saline |
| Lake Winnebago | Wisconsin | 215 | Natural, freshwater, dammed |
| Pyramid Lake | Nevada | 188 | Natural, saline |
| Sam Rayburn Reservoir | Texas | 179 | Reservoir |
| Lake Marion | South Carolina | 174 | Reservoir |
| Eufaula Lake | Oklahoma | 158 | Reservoir |
| Lake Francis Case | South Dakota | 158 | Reservoir |
| Lake Pend Oreille | Idaho | 148 | Natural, freshwater, dammed |
| Yellowstone Lake | Wyoming | 136 | Natural, freshwater |
| Lake Roosevelt | Washington | 125 | Reservoir |
| Moosehead Lake | Maine | 117 | Natural, freshwater, dammed |
| Lake Guntersville | Alabama | 108 | Reservoir |
| Lake Cumberland | Kentucky | 102 | Reservoir |
| Klamath Lake | Oregon | 96 | Natural, freshwater, dammed |
| Truman Reservoir | Missouri | 87 | Reservoir |
| Oneida Lake | New York | 80 | Natural, freshwater, dammed |
| Lake Winnipesaukee | New Hampshire | 71 | Natural, freshwater, dammed |
| Lake Ouachita | Arkansas | 63 | Reservoir |
| Lake Mattamuskeet | North Carolina | 63 | Natural, freshwater |
| Watts Bar Lake | Tennessee | 62 | Reservoir |
| Lake Lanier | Georgia | 59 | Reservoir |
| Elephant Butte Lake | New Mexico | 57 | Reservoir |
| Lake McConaughy | Nebraska | 56 | Reservoir |
| Grenada Lake | Mississippi | 55 | Reservoir |
| Lake Carlyle | Illinois | 41 | Reservoir |
| Quabbin Reservoir | Massachusetts | 39 | Reservoir |
| Theodore Roosevelt Lake | Arizona | 34 | Reservoir |
| Smith Mountain Lake | Virginia | 32 | Reservoir |
| Houghton Lake | Michigan | 31 | Natural, freshwater, dammed |
| Lake Red Rock | Iowa | 25 | Reservoir |
| Milford Lake | Kansas | 25 | Reservoir |
| Grand Lake St. Marys | Ohio | 20 | Reservoir |
| John Martin Reservoir | Colorado | 18 | Reservoir |
| Lake Monroe | Indiana | 17 | Reservoir |
| Raystown Lake | Pennsylvania | 13 | Reservoir |
| Candlewood Lake | Connecticut | 8.4 | Reservoir |
| Deep Creek Lake | Maryland | 6.1 | Reservoir |
| Summersville Lake | West Virginia | 4.35 | Reservoir |
| Lake Hopatcong | New Jersey | 4 | Natural, freshwater, dammed |
| Lake Bomoseen | Vermont | 3.75 | Natural, freshwater, dammed |
| Ninigret Pond | Rhode Island | 2.4 | Natural, lagoon, saline |
| Wahiawa Reservoir | Hawaii | 0.47 | Reservoir |
| Lums Pond | Delaware | 0.31 | Reservoir |
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Catalin Trif is a nature enthusiast, blogger, and tech enthusiast. He is also addicted to travel and his guitar.
Comments
Interesting! It would be cool to point out how many of those are *natural* lakes, vs reservoirs too..
Thanks for the suggestion, that’s a very good idea.
Thanks! This is cool. You should do one for volume too, that would be interesting to know.
Catalin….thanx for your time and energy invested in this blog. I was looking up lake titicaca and happened upon you. A friend of mine married a BEAUTIFUL russian girl from Siberia where the largest lake in the world sits.
Love, love, love the info!!!!!!!
And, hey……if you are a traveling freak get your butt up to Kashmir, India. EXOTIC just like a magazine. Keep traveling and marveling at the BEAUTY. Dont know where you stand with God, but ALL of this beauty didnt just start from some primordial soup…….there is INTELLECTUAL design at every step of your foot and turn of your head!!!!!!!