Largest lakes & reservoirs in USA by shoreline length
The length of the exterior shoreline around a lake is measured at the lake’s normal elevation. The shoreline length can be considerably shorter or longer when lake water levels are lower or higher than normal. A lake with many coves has a much longer shoreline than a lake of similar surface area that is nearly circular in shape.When known, the shoreline miles that we report in our statistics include only the lake’s exterior shoreline, and exclude the shorelines of islands located within a lake’s boundaries. In lakes with many islands, those islands’ combined shorelines may exceed a lake’s exterior shoreline.
You can find many of the world’s longest-shoreline lakes on LakeLubbers. Note: For some lakes, "Longest Shorelines" data is unknown or does not apply, so this table may display fewer lakes than the total 1644 articles we have published for USA lakes.
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Below are lakes within USA > Compared by longest shoreline length in miles. This list does not represent all lakes in USA, only the 1644 USA lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name  |
Shoreline length in miles |
Lake description |
|---|---|---|
| Lake of the Woods, MN / Canada (Canada, Manitoba, Canada, Minnesota, Northwest Minnesota, Ontario, Canada, US Midwest Region, USA) |
25,000 mi | Spanning the border from Minnesota into the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba, Lake of the Woods is an enormous body of water over 68 miles l … |
| Great Salt Lake, UT (Great Salt Lake Country, UT, Ogden & Northwest Region, UT, US West Region, USA, Utah) |
10,000 mi | Also known as America's Dead Sea Sometimes called “America’s Dead Sea,” the Great Salt Lake occupies approximately 1,700 square miles of Utah’s real estate. It is the second largest l … |
| Lake Michigan-Huron (Canada, Chicagoland Region, IL, Great Lakes of North America, Illinois, Indiana, Lake Michigan Region, WI, Michigan, North Indiana, Northeast Michigan, Northwest Michigan, Ontario, Canada, Southwest Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA, Upper Peninsula Region, MI, West Central Michigan, Wisconsin) |
5,463 mi | Lake Michigan and Lake Huron – two of North America’s Great Lakes – are contiguous and they share the same elevation of 577 feet above sea level. They … |
| Lake Huron (Canada, East Central Michigan, Great Lakes of North America, Michigan, Northeast Michigan, Ontario, Canada, US Midwest Region, USA, Upper Peninsula Region, MI) |
3,825 mi | A glacial lake of epic proportions, Lake Huron is the second largest of the five Great Lakes by surface area, boasting 23,010 square miles and an incr … |
| Lake Superior (Canada, Great Lakes of North America, Lake Superior Northwoods Region, WI, Michigan, Minnesota, Northeast Minnesota, Ontario, Canada, US Midwest Region, USA, Upper Peninsula Region, MI, Wisconsin) |
2,726 mi | Skipping over state and country borders, Lake Superior, the largest, deepest, coldest, cleanest, least developed, and most pristine of the Great Lakes … |
| Kentucky Lake, KY/TN (Kentucky, Tennessee, US South Region, USA, West Tennessee, Western Waterlands Region, KY) |
2,380 mi | 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 Oahe, ND/SD (Great Lakes Region, SD, North Dakota, South Central Region, ND, South Dakota, Southwest Region, ND, US Midwest Region, USA) |
2,250 mi | Lake Oahe, named after an Oahe Indian Mission, roughly translates “a foundation” or “a place to stand on.” Spanning 231 miles from Pierre, South Dakot … |
| Lake Powell, AZ/UT (Arizona, Canyonlands Region, UT, Color Country, UT, North Central Arizona, US Southwest Region, US West Region, USA, Utah) |
1,900 mi | Lake Powell is located in one of Southern Utah’s most picturesque red-rock desert areas and in Arizona’s Navajo Indian Reservation. It is one of the U … |
| Lake Michigan (Chicagoland Region, IL, Great Lakes of North America, Illinois, Indiana, Lake Michigan Region, WI, Michigan, North Indiana, Northwest Michigan, Southwest Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA, Upper Peninsula Region, MI, West Central Michigan, Wisconsin) |
1,638 mi | As the only Great Lake nestled completely within the boundaries of the United States, Lake Michigan is the pride and joy of Wisconsin, Illinois, India … |
| Fort Peck Lake, MT (Missouri River Country, MT, Montana, US West Region, USA) |
1,520 mi | Fort Peck Lake, located 20 miles southeast of Glasgow, Montana on Montana Highway 24, is the 5th-largest man-made reservoir by volume in the United St … |
| Lake Sakakawea, ND (North Dakota, Northwest Region, ND, US Midwest Region, USA) |
1,340 mi | The second-largest reservoir by surface acreage in the United States (and third-largest in volume), Lake Sakakawea stretches 178 miles from Garrison D … |
| Grand Lake O’the Cherokees, OK (Green Country, OK, Oklahoma, US Southwest Region, USA) |
1,300 mi | Also known as Grand Lake Over the Cherokees Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees stands out as a sapphire jewel tucked into the northeastern Oklahoma landscape. Created in 1940, the reservoir stretches f … |