List of lakes of California

There are more than 3,000 named lakes, reservoirs, and dry lakes in the U.S. state of California.

Largest lakes


In terms of area covered, the largest lake in California is the Salton Sea, a lake formed in 1905 which is now saline. It occupies 376 sqmi in the southeast corner of the state, but because it is shallow it only holds about 7.5 e6acre.ft of water. Tulare Lake in the San Joaquin Valley was larger, at approximately 690 sqmi, until it was drained during the later years of the nineteenth century.

In terms of volume, the largest lake on the list is Lake Tahoe, located on the California–Nevada border. It holds roughly 36 cumi of water. It is also the largest freshwater lake by area, at 191 mi2, and the deepest lake, with a maximum depth of 1645 ft.

Among freshwater lakes entirely contained within the state, the largest by area is Clear Lake, which covers 68 sqmi.

Many of California's large lakes are actually reservoirs: artificial bodies of fresh water. In terms of both area and volume, the largest of these is Lake Shasta, which formed behind Shasta Dam in the 1940s. The dam can impound 4.552 e6acre.ft of water over 29740 acres.

Lake Elsinore, which covers 3000 acres, is billed as the largest natural freshwater lake in Southern California.

List
The list is alphabetized by the name of the lake, with the words lake, of, and the ignored. To sort on a different column, click on the arrows in the header row.

Geographic coordinates, approximate elevations, alternative names, and other details may be obtained by following the Geographic Names Information System links in the third column. Note: Lakes grow and shrink due to precipitation, evaporation, releases, and diversions. For this reason, many of the surface areas tabulated below are very approximate. For reservoirs, the areas at maximum water storage are indicated. Reservoirs used for flood control are seldom allowed to reach maximum storage. Swimming, fishing, and/or boating are permitted in some of these lakes, but not all.