IASNOVA Interactive Atlas · Geography Through Maps
THE USA LAKES ATLAS
30 major lakes & reservoirs — hover or tap a marker to explore.
Selected major lakes · State boundaries shown for orientation · areas, depths and reservoir capacities are approximate; shorelines vary with water level
Lakes of the USA: What the Map Reveals
The United States contains every major lake type: immense glacial lakes along the Canadian border, fault-basin lakes in the West, terminal salt lakes in dry interior basins, volcanic caldera lakes, shallow subtropical lakes and vast river reservoirs. The five Great Lakes dominate the national map, but Alaska alone contains nearly 100 freshwater lakes with surface areas of at least ten square miles.
Use the atlas above to learn locations first. Then filter by lake type and open the Index for rapid identification practice. Remember that a reservoir is human-made, a terminal lake has no outlet to the ocean, and a water body’s familiar name does not always reveal its scientific classification—Lake Pontchartrain, for example, is a brackish estuary.
Complete Reference: All 30 Lakes
Open any entry for its location, type, dimensions, drainage and defining geographic fact.
Great Lakes
Lake Superior Minnesota · Wisconsin · Michigan · Ontario (Canada)
Type: Natural freshwater · glacial
Size / depth: 31,700 sq mi (82,100 km²); maximum depth 1,332 ft (406 m)
Drainage / basin: Drains through the St. Marys River into Lake Huron
Why it matters: The largest freshwater lake on Earth by surface area. It holds more water than the other four Great Lakes combined.
Lake Michigan Illinois · Indiana · Michigan · Wisconsin
Type: Natural freshwater · glacial
Size / depth: 22,300 sq mi (57,800 km²); maximum depth 925 ft (282 m)
Drainage / basin: Joins Lake Huron through the Straits of Mackinac
Why it matters: The only Great Lake located entirely in the United States. Hydrologically, Michigan and Huron are one connected lake.
Lake Huron Michigan · Ontario (Canada)
Type: Natural freshwater · glacial
Size / depth: 23,000 sq mi (59,600 km²); maximum depth 750 ft (229 m)
Drainage / basin: Receives Superior via the St. Marys River and drains toward Lake Erie
Why it matters: It has the longest shoreline of the Great Lakes and contains Manitoulin Island, the world’s largest freshwater island.
Lake Erie Michigan · Ohio · Pennsylvania · New York · Ontario (Canada)
Type: Natural freshwater · glacial
Size / depth: 9,910 sq mi (25,700 km²); maximum depth 210 ft (64 m)
Drainage / basin: Drains through the Niagara River and Niagara Falls into Lake Ontario
Why it matters: The shallowest Great Lake. It warms and cools quickly and is the most biologically productive of the five.
Lake Ontario New York · Ontario (Canada)
Type: Natural freshwater · glacial
Size / depth: 7,340 sq mi (19,000 km²); maximum depth 802 ft (244 m)
Drainage / basin: The St. Lawrence River carries its water to the Atlantic Ocean
Why it matters: Smallest Great Lake by surface area, but far deeper than Lake Erie. Its name comes from an Iroquoian term for a great or beautiful lake.
Natural & coastal
Iliamna Lake Alaska
Type: Natural freshwater · glacial/tectonic
Size / depth: About 1,000–1,150 sq mi (2,590–2,980 km²)
Drainage / basin: Drains through the Kvichak River to Bristol Bay
Why it matters: Alaska’s largest lake and the largest natural freshwater lake contained wholly within a single U.S. state.
Becharof Lake Alaska
Type: Natural freshwater · glacial
Size / depth: About 458 sq mi (1,190 km²); roughly 37 mi (60 km) long
Drainage / basin: Drains through the Egegik River to Bristol Bay
Why it matters: One of Alaska’s largest lakes and an important nursery in the Bristol Bay sockeye-salmon system.
Teshekpuk Lake Alaska
Type: Natural freshwater · Arctic coastal lake
Size / depth: About 320 sq mi (830 km²); very shallow
Drainage / basin: Arctic Coastal Plain near the Beaufort Sea
Why it matters: A globally important molting and nesting area for waterbirds, surrounded by sensitive tundra and caribou habitat.
Lake Tahoe California · Nevada
Type: Natural freshwater · fault-basin lake
Size / depth: 191 sq mi (495 km²); maximum depth 1,645 ft (501 m)
Drainage / basin: Its outlet is the Truckee River, which ends in Pyramid Lake
Why it matters: The second-deepest lake in the United States after Crater Lake, famous for exceptional clarity and its high Sierra Nevada setting.
Flathead Lake Montana
Type: Natural freshwater · glacial
Size / depth: About 197 sq mi (510 km²); maximum depth about 370 ft (113 m)
Drainage / basin: Flathead River → Clark Fork → Columbia River system
Why it matters: A vast glacial lake south of Glacier National Park and one of the largest natural freshwater lakes in the western Lower 48.
Lake Pend Oreille Idaho
Type: Natural freshwater · glacial
Size / depth: About 148 sq mi (383 km²); maximum depth about 1,158 ft (353 m)
Drainage / basin: Pend Oreille River → Columbia River system
Why it matters: Idaho’s largest lake and one of the deepest in the United States; its deep water has supported U.S. Navy acoustic research.
Lake Okeechobee Florida
Type: Natural freshwater · shallow subtropical lake
Size / depth: 730 sq mi (1,890 km²); average depth only about 9 ft (2.7 m)
Drainage / basin: Central to South Florida and the Everglades water-management system
Why it matters: The largest lake in the southeastern United States. Its Seminole name is commonly translated as “big water.”
Lake Champlain New York · Vermont · Quebec (Canada)
Type: Natural freshwater · glacial valley lake
Size / depth: 435 sq mi (1,127 km²); maximum depth about 400 ft (122 m)
Drainage / basin: Richelieu River → St. Lawrence River
Why it matters: A long north–south lake in a former glacial corridor. It briefly became an official Great Lake in 1998 before Congress reversed the designation.
Lake of the Woods Minnesota · Ontario and Manitoba (Canada)
Type: Natural freshwater · glacial
Size / depth: About 1,679 sq mi (4,349 km²) across the U.S. and Canada
Drainage / basin: Winnipeg River → Lake Winnipeg → Nelson River
Why it matters: Its complex shoreline creates Minnesota’s Northwest Angle, the only part of the contiguous United States north of the 49th parallel.
Red Lake Minnesota
Type: Natural freshwater · glacial
Size / depth: Upper and Lower Red Lakes together cover about 427 sq mi (1,106 km²)
Drainage / basin: Red Lake River → Red River of the North
Why it matters: Minnesota’s largest inland lake by surface area; much of it lies within the Red Lake Nation.
Lake Winnebago Wisconsin
Type: Natural freshwater · glacial
Size / depth: About 215 sq mi (557 km²); shallow, averaging roughly 15 ft (4.6 m)
Drainage / basin: Fox River → Green Bay → Lake Michigan
Why it matters: Wisconsin’s largest inland lake and the center of one of North America’s best-known lake-sturgeon fisheries.
Lake Pontchartrain Louisiana
Type: Brackish estuary commonly called a lake
Size / depth: About 630 sq mi (1,630 km²); average depth roughly 12–14 ft (3.7–4.3 m)
Drainage / basin: Connected to the Gulf of Mexico through Lake Borgne and tidal passes
Why it matters: Scientifically an estuary, not a true freshwater lake. The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway crosses its open water near New Orleans.
Reservoirs
Lake Mead Nevada · Arizona
Type: Reservoir · Colorado River
Size / depth: Full-pool capacity historically about 28.2 million acre-feet; level and area vary
Drainage / basin: Impounded by Hoover Dam
Why it matters: The largest U.S. reservoir by designed storage capacity. It supplies water and hydropower across the arid Southwest.
Lake Powell Utah · Arizona
Type: Reservoir · Colorado River
Size / depth: Total storage capacity about 25.2 million acre-feet; level and area vary
Drainage / basin: Impounded by Glen Canyon Dam
Why it matters: A canyon-filled reservoir that began filling in 1963 and works in tandem with Lake Mead to regulate the Colorado River.
Lake Sakakawea North Dakota
Type: Reservoir · Missouri River
Size / depth: About 178 mi (286 km) long; gross storage roughly 23.5 million acre-feet
Drainage / basin: Impounded by Garrison Dam
Why it matters: The largest reservoir operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and commonly ranked third in the nation by storage.
Lake Oahe South Dakota · North Dakota
Type: Reservoir · Missouri River
Size / depth: About 231 mi (372 km) long; surface near 312,000 acres at normal pool
Drainage / basin: Impounded by Oahe Dam
Why it matters: A long Missouri River reservoir extending from central South Dakota nearly to Bismarck, North Dakota.
Fort Peck Lake Montana
Type: Reservoir · Missouri River
Size / depth: About 134 mi (216 km) long; storage roughly 18.7 million acre-feet
Drainage / basin: Impounded by Fort Peck Dam
Why it matters: Created by one of the world’s largest earthfill dams, a major New Deal project begun in the 1930s.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake Washington
Type: Reservoir · Columbia River
Size / depth: About 151 mi (243 km) long; storage roughly 9.4 million acre-feet
Drainage / basin: Impounded by Grand Coulee Dam
Why it matters: The huge reservoir behind Grand Coulee Dam supports hydropower, irrigation, flood control and recreation.
Lake Texoma Texas · Oklahoma
Type: Reservoir · Red River
Size / depth: About 89,000 acres (360 km²) at conservation pool
Drainage / basin: Impounded by Denison Dam
Why it matters: One of the United States’ largest reservoirs, straddling a state boundary on the Red River and built for flood control and hydropower.
Toledo Bend Reservoir Texas · Louisiana
Type: Reservoir · Sabine River
Size / depth: About 185,000 acres (749 km²) at normal pool
Drainage / basin: Impounded by Toledo Bend Dam
Why it matters: One of the largest reservoirs by surface area in the South, forming a long section of the Texas–Louisiana border.
Saline / terminal
Great Salt Lake Utah
Type: Natural saline · terminal lake
Size / depth: Highly variable; about 1,600 sq mi (4,140 km²) near 4,200 ft elevation
Drainage / basin: No outlet; Bear, Weber and Jordan rivers enter, while water leaves by evaporation
Why it matters: A remnant of ancient Lake Bonneville. Its area, depth and salinity change sharply with inflow and evaporation.
Mono Lake California
Type: Natural saline-alkaline · terminal lake
Size / depth: Roughly 65–70 sq mi (168–181 km²), varying with water level
Drainage / basin: Closed Mono Basin; no outlet to the sea
Why it matters: Its alkaline water supports brine shrimp and alkali flies rather than fish. Calcium-carbonate tufa towers mark former underwater springs.
Salton Sea California
Type: Saline terminal lake · accidentally refilled basin
Size / depth: Roughly 340 sq mi (880 km²), but shrinking and highly variable
Drainage / basin: Closed Salton Sink below sea level; sustained mainly by agricultural drainage
Why it matters: The modern sea formed after Colorado River floodwater breached canals in 1905. Falling water exposes salty, dusty lakebed.
Volcanic / caldera
Crater Lake Oregon
Type: Natural freshwater · volcanic caldera
Size / depth: 20.6 sq mi (53 km²); maximum depth 1,943 ft (592 m)
Drainage / basin: No river inlet or outlet; supplied by rain and snow
Why it matters: The deepest lake in the United States. It fills the caldera left by the collapse of Mount Mazama about 7,700 years ago.
Yellowstone Lake Wyoming
Type: Natural freshwater · volcanic plateau lake
Size / depth: About 136–139 sq mi (352–360 km²); average depth about 138 ft (42 m)
Drainage / basin: Yellowstone River → Missouri → Mississippi River
Why it matters: North America’s largest high-elevation lake above 7,000 ft, lying partly within the active Yellowstone caldera.
Test Yourself: U.S. Lakes Map Quiz
Q1. Which Great Lake lies entirely within the United States?
Lake Michigan is bordered by four U.S. states and does not extend into Canada. The other four Great Lakes are shared with Canada.
Q2. Which is the deepest lake in the United States?
Crater Lake reaches about 1,943 ft (592 m), making it the deepest U.S. lake. Tahoe is second.
Q3. Lake Mead was created by which dam?
Hoover Dam impounds the Colorado River to form Lake Mead. Glen Canyon Dam creates Lake Powell.
Q4. Which lake has no surface outlet and loses water mainly through evaporation?
Great Salt Lake is a terminal lake. Rivers carry dissolved minerals in, but no river carries them out.
Q5. Which lake is central to the Everglades water-management system?
Lake Okeechobee is the hydrological heart of South Florida and historically overflowed southward into the Everglades.
Q6. The Straits of Mackinac directly connect which two lakes?
Lakes Michigan and Huron share the same elevation and connect through the Straits of Mackinac; hydrologically they form one lake.
Q7. Which named “lake” is scientifically a brackish estuary?
Lake Pontchartrain exchanges tidal water with the Gulf of Mexico and is classified as an estuary.
Q8. Which Alaskan lake is the largest natural freshwater lake wholly within one U.S. state?
Iliamna Lake is Alaska’s largest lake and the largest natural freshwater lake wholly within one U.S. state.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the largest lake in the United States?
Lake Superior is the largest lake touching the United States by surface area, but it is shared with Canada. Lake Michigan is the largest lake entirely within the United States. Iliamna Lake is the largest natural freshwater lake wholly within a single U.S. state.
What is the deepest lake in the United States?
Crater Lake in Oregon is the deepest lake in the United States, reaching about 1,943 feet (592 metres). Lake Tahoe is second at about 1,645 feet (501 metres).
Which Great Lake is entirely in the United States?
Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake located entirely within the United States. Superior, Huron, Erie and Ontario are shared with Canada.
Are Lake Mead and Lake Powell natural lakes?
No. Both are reservoirs on the Colorado River. Hoover Dam created Lake Mead, while Glen Canyon Dam created Lake Powell.
Why are Great Salt Lake, Mono Lake and the Salton Sea salty?
They occupy closed or terminal basins with no outlet to the ocean. Water evaporates but dissolved minerals remain, so salts accumulate. Their salinity changes as water levels rise and fall.
Is Lake Pontchartrain really a lake?
Despite its name, Lake Pontchartrain is a shallow brackish estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico through tidal passes.
Why do lake areas and reservoir capacities differ among sources?
Shorelines and storage change with water level, drought, inflow, evaporation and sedimentation. Published values may refer to current conditions, a long-term reference elevation, conservation pool or full-pool design capacity.
Authoritative Sources
- U.S. EPA — Physical Features of the Great Lakes
- U.S. Geological Survey — Principal Lakes of the United States
- National Park Service — Crater Lake
- National Park Service — Yellowstone Lake and Water
- South Florida Water Management District — Lake Okeechobee
- Utah Geological Survey — Great Salt Lake and Lake Bonneville
- U.S. Geological Survey — Lake Tahoe
- U.S. Bureau of Reclamation — Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — Garrison Dam and Lake Sakakawea
Data note: Lake surface area, depth and reservoir storage can differ among official publications because water levels vary and sources may use different reference elevations, survey years, conservation pools or full-pool capacities.
