Largest lakes & reservoirs in Tennessee 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 33 articles we have published for Tennessee lakes.
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Below are lakes within USA > US South Region > Tennessee > Compared by surface area in acres. This list does not represent all lakes in Tennessee, only the 33 Tennessee lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name  |
Surface area in acres |
Lake description |
|---|---|---|
| Kentucky Lake, KY/TN (Kentucky, Tennessee, US South Region, USA, West Tennessee, Western Waterlands Region, KY) |
160,309 ac | Kentucky Lake is the largest man-made lake east of the Mississippi when measured by surface acres at “full pond,” the normal water level: 184 miles lo… |
| Lake Guntersville, AL (Alabama, East Tennessee, Mountains Region, AL, Tennessee, US South Region, USA) |
69,100 ac | Also known as Guntersville Lake, Guntersville Reservoir Alabama’s Mountain Region contains the state’s largest lake: Lake Guntersville. Cradled in the Appalachian foothills of northern Alabama, it’s located… |
| Lake Barkley, KY/TN (Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, Tennessee, US South Region, USA, Western Waterlands Region, KY) |
57,920 ac | Lake Barkley is one of the premier recreational destinations in Western Kentucky. The reservoir was created by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1966 for… |
| Pickwick Lake, AL/MS/TN (Alabama, Hills Region, MS, Mississippi, Mountains Region, AL, Tennessee, US South Region, USA, West Tennessee) |
43,100 ac | Also known as Pickwick Reservoir Pickwick Lake is a 43,100-acre reservoir created by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) with construction of Pickwick Landing Dam across the Tennesse… |
| Watts Bar Lake, TN (East Tennessee, Tennessee, US South Region, USA) |
39,090 ac | Also known as Watts Bar Reservoir Midway between Knoxville and Chattanooga, Watts Bar Lake has been called “King of the Southern Great Lakes.” Watts Bar Lake is an impoundment of the T… |
| Chickamauga Lake, TN (East Tennessee, Tennessee, US South Region, USA) |
36,240 ac | Also known as Chickamauga Reservoir Chickamauga Lake is a fabulous recreational reservoir. It is located in southeast Tennessee, 20 miles from Chattanooga, and includes 810 miles of shor… |
| Norris Lake, TN (East Tennessee, Tennessee, US South Region, USA) |
33,840 ac | 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… |
| Cherokee Lake, TN (East Tennessee, Tennessee, US South Region, USA) |
28,780 ac | Also known as Cherokee Reservoir Cherokee Lake: Artists stop at Clinch Mountain Overlook to paint it, and photographers to photograph it, and every year millions of people come from a… |
| Douglas Lake, TN (East Tennessee, Tennessee, US South Region, USA) |
28,420 ac | 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… |
| Dale Hollow Lake, KY/TN (Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, Southern Lakes Region, KY, Tennessee, US South Region, USA) |
27,700 ac | Also known as Dale Hollow Reservoir Dale Hollow Lake, straddling the Kentucky-Tennessee border, is an artificial lake that was formed by damming the Obey and Cumberland Rivers. As with m… |
| Old Hickory Lake, TN (Middle Tennessee, Tennessee, US South Region, USA) |
22,500 ac | Only half an hour outside of Nashville, Old Hickory Lake offers outdoor recreational opportunities for millions of visitors to the middle region of Te… |
| Center Hill Lake, TN (Middle Tennessee, Tennessee, US South Region, USA) |
18,220 ac | Also known as Center Hill Reservoir Center Hill Lake is almost completely surrounded by the beautiful hardwood forested hills of the Tennessee Eastern Highlands. Center Hill Lake has 18,… |
