Largest lakes & reservoirs in California by acres
There is no widely-accepted minimum surface area that defines a lake. What LakeLubbers describes as a lake, you might call a pond. Acreage of a lake (or sometimes square kilometers) is most often measured at the top surface area when the lake is at normal elevation. The surface area can be considerably smaller or larger when lake levels are lower or higher than normal. North America’s Lake Superior is the world’s largest freshwater lake by this measure.The other measure of a lake’s size is the lake’s water volume. By that measure, the world’s largest freshwater lake is Lake Baikal in Siberia.
You can find many of the world’s largest lakes (acres) on LakeLubbers in the comparison table below. Note: For some lakes, "Largest Lakes - Acres" data is unknown or does not apply, so you may see fewer lakes than the total 75 articles we have published for California lakes.
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Below are lakes within USA > US West Region > California > Compared by surface area in acres. This list does not represent all lakes in California, only the 75 California lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name | Surface area in acres | Lake description |
---|---|---|
Whiskeytown Lake, CA (California, Shasta Cascade Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
3,200 ac | Pristine Whiskeytown Lake is located 8 miles west of Redding in the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, a portion of the larger Shasta-Trinity Recre … |
Cachuma Lake (California, Central Coast Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
3,100 ac | Also known as Cachuma Reservoir, Lake Cachuma One of the most popular destination lakes along the California Central Coast is 3100-acre Cachuma Lake. In 1953, the federal Bureau of Reclamation con … |
Big Bear Lake, CA (California, Inland Empire Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
2,971 ac | Located just 100 miles from Los Angeles but wrapped in an entirely different environment, Big Bear Lake is both convenient and escapist. Surrounded by … |
Lake Sonoma, CA (California, North Coast Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
2,700 ac | In 1983 the US Army Corps of Engineers completed the Warm Springs Dam, and the almost limitless recreation opportunities of Sonoma County California e … |
Success Lake (California, Central Valley Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
2,450 ac | Also known as Lake Success, Success Reservoir Feeding America’s families is just one of the quiet duties of Success Lake in California’s fertile Central Valley region. Since the Tule River was dam … |
Castaic Lake, CA (California, Los Angeles County, CA, US West Region, USA) |
2,427 ac | Also known as Lake Castaic Almost every lake promises something for everyone, but Castaic Lake in Los Angeles County, California delivers. With separate sections of its 2,427 ac … |
Topaz Lake, CA/NV (California, High Sierra Region, CA, Nevada, Renoe-Tahoe Territory, NV, US West Region, USA) |
2,410 ac | Also known as Topaz Reservoir Topaz Lake is a man-made reservoir located on the border of Nevada and California, about 75 miles south of Reno, Nevada. The reservoir was built on th … |
Lake Pillsbury, CA (California, North Coast Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
2,280 ac | Surrounded by the Mendocino National Forest and approachable only by gravel roads, Lake Pillsbury in Lake County, California is an exciting destinatio … |
Shaver Lake, CA (California, High Sierra Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
2,177 ac | Also known as Shaver Reservoir Sixty miles east of Fresno, hidden in the High Sierra Region, Shaver Lake is one of California’s favorite recreation destinations. There have been man … |
Lake Kaweah (California, Central Valley Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
1,945 ac | Also known as Kaweah Lake, Kaweah Reservoir Lake Kaweah, located about halfway between the City of Visalia and Sequoia National Park in California’s Central Valley region, is an engineering marv … |
Bucks Lake, CA (California, Shasta Cascade Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
1,827 ac | A peregrine falcon, perched in the top of a silvery, windswept pine, watches a sailboat tack back and forth across the clear cool water of Bucks Lake. … |
Lake Mendocino, CA (California, North Coast Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
1,822 ac | With the gateway to the redwoods on one side and California’s wine country on the other, Lake Mendocino is an extraordinary vacation destination. The … |