As we all know, there are five great lakes: Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie, and Ontario, and these are the only great lakes in North America… right?
No, unlike what this false notion that I used to have suggests, it could be said that there are many more great lakes than these five lakes, in fact, those five lakes aren’t even the five largest lakes in North America — Great Bear Lake, Great Slave Lake, and Lake Winnipeg are larger than Lake Ontario, but they aren’t conventionally considered great lakes.
These three other lakes are definitely great, but they are scattered across Canada. My best assumption is that the lakes of Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie, and Ontario are considered the Great Lakes because they are not only five of the largest lakes in North America, but they are also clustered in one relatively small area.
Naturally, the further you go down the list of the largest lakes in the United States, the more rapidly the size of each lake diminishes, but for this post, let’s only consider the 20 largest lakes in the United States.
The 20 Largest Lakes in the US by Surface Area
1. Lake Superior (31,700 mi2)
2. Lake Huron (23,000 mi2)
3. Lake Michigan (22,300 mi2)
4. Lake Erie (9,910 mi2)
5. Lake Ontario (7,340 mi2)
6. Lake of the Woods (1,678 mi2)
7. Iliamna Lake (1,014 mi2)
8. Great Salt Lake (950 mi2)
9. Lake Okeechobee (730 mi2)
10. Lake Oahe (685 mi2)
11. Lake Pontchartrain (631 mi2)
12. Lake Sakakawea (520 mi2)
13. Lake Champlain (490 mi2)
14. Becharof Lake (453 mi2)
15. Lake St. Clair (440 mi2)
16. Red Lake (427 mi2)
17. Selawik Lake (404 mi2)
18. Fort Peck Lake (393 mi2)
19. Salton Sea (347 mi2)
20. Rainy Lake (345 mi2)
The 20 Largest Lakes in the US by Surface Area (Excluding Area Outside the US)
1. Lake Michigan (22,300 mi2)
2. Lake Superior (20,600 mi2)
3. Lake Huron (9,200 mi2)
4. Lake Erie (4,960 mi2)
5. Lake Ontario (3,670 mi2)
6. Iliamna Lake (1,014 mi2)
7. Great Salt Lake (950 mi2)
8. Lake Okeechobee (730 mi2)
9. Lake Oahe (685 mi2)
10. Lake Pontchartrain (631 mi2)
11. Lake of the Woods (554 mi2)
12. Lake Sakakawea (520 mi2)
13. Becharof Lake (453 mi2)
14. Red Lake (427 mi2)
15. Lake Champlain (417 mi2)
16. Selawik Lake (404 mi2)
17. Fort Peck Lake (393 mi2)
18. Salton Sea (347 mi2)
19. Teshekpuk Lake (320 mi2)
20. Devils Lake (300 mi2)
Some of these lakes hold some interesting titles, such as Iliamna Lake is the largest lake entirely located in one state, Lake Michigan is the largest freshwater lake entirely located in the US, and Lake Superior is the largest lake in the US by volume with over 3 quadrillion (3,000,000,000,000,000) gallons of water!
Fun fact: if you evenly poured all of Lake Superior’s water across North and South America, the water would cover both continents with approximately 1 foot of water!
Which of these great lakes is your favorite?
Onward American 🇺🇸
Source: Largest Lakes of the Source: Largest Lakes of the US
Onward American 