Highest elevation lakes & reservoirs in by altitude
While lake levels can flucuate frequently based on several circumstances, the altitude/elevation of a lake is based on its normal water level, measured by the lake’s surface distance above sea level. For a reservoir, this water level is also known as “full pond” or “full pool”.Low lake levels can occur due to deliberate seasonal draw downs for irrigation or impending snow melt, reduced water inflows, drought and evaporation, residential or commercial water demands, and hydropower generation. Some lakes’ minimum and maximum elevations are virtually the same. Lakes that generate hydropower may vary by several feet – according to power demand. Lakes whose primary purpose is to prevent flooding can seasonally vary by 100 feet or more. When some lakes reach their minimum elevation, their boat ramps may not be long enough to permit boat access – and boats docked on shallow parts of the lake may end up on dry ground. In those cases, kayakers and shore-based anglers may be among the few happy recreational users of the lake.
A lake’s highest water level, measured by the lake’s surface distance above sea level, that can occur during flooding. A lake’s highest possible maximum elevation is usually the top of the lake’s dam or spillway. At lakes that include residential development, government regulations usually forbid the construction of homes below a lake’s maximum elevation.
You can find many of the world’s highest-elevated lakes on LakeLubbers. Lakes with the lowest elevations (known by LakeLubbers) are shown on the final page of that list. Note: For some lakes, "Altitude/Elevation" data is unknown, so this table may display fewer lakes than the total 2151 articles we have published for lakes.
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Below are lakes within Compared by highest altitude/elevation in feet. This list does not represent all lakes in , only the 2151 lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name  |
Elevation in feet |
Lake description |
|---|---|---|
| Melvern Lake (Kansas, Southeast Kansas, US Midwest Region, USA) |
1,036 ft | Also known as Melvern Resevoir Melvern Lake is the perfect spot in dry southeast Kansas to enjoy a week at the lake. Built in 1972 as a flood control reservoir, Melvern Lake now off … |
| Norris Lake, TN (East Tennessee, Tennessee, US South Region, USA) |
1,034 ft | Also known as Norris Reservoir Just 25 miles north of Knoxville, Tennessee, Norris Lake is the first reservoir created by the Tennessee Valley Authority. Named for Senator George No … |
| Berlin Lake (Northeast Ohio, Ohio, US Midwest Region, USA) |
1,031 ft | Also known as Berlin Reservoir One of the best-loved spots along northeastern Ohio’s Mahoning River is Berlin Lake. The Mahoning River has long done double-duty safeguarding the wat … |
| Lake Buchanan, TX (Hill Country Region, TX, Texas, US Southwest Region, USA) |
1,021 ft | Also known as "Big Buc" Lake Buchanan, the oldest and northernmost of the Highland Lakes, is known as “Big Buc” to the locals and anglers who regularly visit the area. It is … |
| Laurel River Lake, KY (Daniel Boone Country, KY, Kentucky, US South Region, USA) |
1,018 ft | Laurel River Lake was created by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1974 to provide flood control and hydroelectric power to its neighboring areas, b … |
| Douglas Lake, TN (East Tennessee, Tennessee, US South Region, USA) |
1,000 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 … |
| Clearwater Lake MN (Minneapolis-St. Paul Metro Region, MN, Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
996 ft | Just north of Minnesota’s small city of Annandale is Clearwater Lake, a popular residential lake in an area with abundant bodies of water. Visitors an … |
| West Branch Lake, OH (Northeast Ohio, Ohio, US Midwest Region, USA) |
993 ft | Also known as Michael J. Kirwan Reservoir West Branch Lake is set in Northeast Ohio’s glaciated land, where large boulders of ice left marshy wetlands in their recession thousands of years ago … |
| Philpott Lake, VA (Blue Ridge Highlands, VA, Southern Virginia Region, US South Region, USA, Virginia) |
985 ft | Also known as Philpott Reservoir Snuggled into the Blue Ridge Mountains, the 2,880-acre Philpott Lake resides in southwestern Virginia’s Franklin, Henry, and Patrick Counties. The irr … |
| Lake Traverse, MN/SD (Central Minnesota, Glacial Lakes & Prairies Region, SD, Minnesota, South Dakota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
981 ft | Lake Traverse straddles the border of Minnesota’s Central tourism region and South Dakota’s northeastern Great Lakes and Prairie region. Covering more … |
| Lake James, IN (Indiana, North Indiana, US Midwest Region, USA) |
968 ft | Roughly 10,000 years ago the same receding glaciers that filled the Great Lakes created kettle holes in Northeast Indiana that resulted in a chain of … |
| Waurika Lake, OK (Great Plains Country, OK, Oklahoma, US Southwest Region, USA) |
963 ft | Also known as Waurika Reservoir, Lake Waurika Located on Beaver Creek, a tributary of the Red River, Waurika Lake was created to provide flood damage reduction, irrigation, water supply, water qua … |