What is the Largest Lake in Every US State?
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- Опубліковано 29 вер 2024
- The United States is home to some of the world's most famous and important lakes, from the Great Lakes to the Great Salt Lake. Let's take a quick look at the largest lake that's contained within the borders of each of the 50 states, a topic that rules out the Great Lakes and others shared by multiple states. I hope you enjoy, and thanks for watching! Alphabetized timestamps are below.
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TIMESTAMPS for your convenience:
Biggest Lake in Alabama: 12:00
Biggest Lake in Alaska: 18:32
Biggest Lake in Arizona: 6:17
Biggest Lake in Arkansas: 9:50
Biggest Lake in California: 15:46
Biggest Lake in Colorado: 3:50
Biggest Lake in Connecticut: 3:09
Biggest Lake in Delaware: 0:30
Biggest Lake in Florida: 17:42
Biggest Lake in Georgia: 8:27
Biggest Lake in Hawaii: 1:03
Biggest Lake in Idaho: 13:23
Biggest Lake in Illinois: 6:58
Biggest Lake in Indiana: 4:11
Biggest Lake in Iowa: 4:56
Biggest Lake in Kansas: 5:15
Biggest Lake in Kentucky: 10:33
Biggest Lake in Louisiana: 17:21
Biggest Lake in Maine: 12:20
Biggest Lake in Maryland: 2:48
Biggest Lake in Massachusetts: 6:36
Biggest Lake in Michigan: 5:36
Biggest Lake in Minnesota: 16:37
Biggest Lake in Mississippi: 7:20
Biggest Lake in Missouri: 11:14
Biggest Lake in Montana: 16:15
Biggest Lake in Nebraska: 7:42
Biggest Lake in Nevada: 14:42
Biggest Lake in New Hampshire: 10:10
Biggest Lake in New Jersey: 1:48
Biggest Lake in New Mexico: 8:04
Biggest Lake in New York: 10:53
Biggest Lake in North Carolina: 9:10
Biggest Lake in North Dakota: 16:59
Biggest Lake in Ohio: 4:31
Biggest Lake in Oklahoma: 13:45
Biggest Lake in Oregon: 11:37
Biggest Lake in Pennsylvania: 3:28
Biggest Lake in Rhode Island: 2:29
Biggest Lake in South Carolina: 14:20
Biggest Lake in South Dakota: 14:04
Biggest Lake in Tennessee: 8:50
Biggest Lake in Texas: 15:04
Biggest Lake in Utah: 18:02
Biggest Lake in Vermont: 1:26
Biggest Lake in Virginia: 5:58
Biggest Lake in Washington: 12:39
Biggest Lake in West Virginia: 2:08
Biggest Lake in Wisconsin: 15:26
Biggest Lake in Wyoming: 13:00
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Hey, I'm Gavin! I'm better known as Chicago Geographer or CG online. My videos are about geography and GeoGuessr, and this is currently my part-time career after graduating from the University of Chicago. Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss my latest videos, and thanks for stopping by!
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#geography #lakes #unitedstates #greatlakes #usa
us lakes
american lakes
freshwater lakes
largest lakes
biggest lakes
world lakes
I just released the Canadian equivalent of this video - check it out here! ua-cam.com/video/-q9YnRamO1I/v-deo.html
Thanks so much for watching everyone!
Someone from Minnesota needs to rank all 10,000 lakes from best to worst.
Good idea
My number one is lake of the woods.. best fishing
Minnesota actually has 11,842 lakes, and Wisconsin has over 15,000(though wisconson only has more because of the different ways these states categorize lakes and ponds)
@@stevepalmberg5905I concur
@@brqxton8974 Minnesota requires a lake to be at least 10 acres in order to count as a "lake". Wisconsin just requires 2.2 acres. Minnesota would have considerably more than Wisconsin with identical criteria. Alaska has far more than both MN and WI.
The fact I live a couple minutes away from Lake Hopacong awesome
Taking a quick pause to say you've finally mentioned a lake I've heard of...Lake McConaughy in Nebraska! We camped at that tiny lake just below the dam, Lake Ogallala three weeks ago on a quick 6k mile road trip to the PNW 🙂! Back to the video; you haven't mentioned my home state of Texas yet where most if not all of the lakes of any size are reservoirs.
For being in a math intensive field, you should know that an average depth can not have a range.
It's probably AI. 😂
Props to the people who measured these lakes down to the hundredth of a mile
Next time you make this video, please show the lake within a map of the entire state. Help us see where it is.
(I grew up overlooking South Dakota's Lake Francis Case. I was Fascinated with it, but the farmers around me had a total "so what?" attitude.
Man, you have a deep voice
that "amongus" review of the lake in Hawaii had me rolling; we gotta find that guy and fly him out to see his amogus lake once and for all
The island is privately owned and conserved by the family who owns it for use in preserving native Hawaiian culture. Pretty sure outsiders aren't allowed in.
The Robinsons ARE Native Hawai'ian culture. They're part white, but they speak Hawai'ian and having their own island is the most Hawai'ian thing ever. Not like that Larry Ellison guy that owns the old estate of the villain Sanford Dole....
@@rovsea-3761 It is by invitation only.
@@hbowman108I’m sorry, hawai’ian?
@@countryball-enjoyer There's a consonant between the I's in Hawai'i, indicated by an apostrophe. It's usually dropped talking about the state, but it should be used when talking about native Hawai'ians.
Now we need a list with only natural lakes and a separate list for only manmade lakes
No
@@random_stuff_channelYes
Yes
Texas doesn't have a single natural lake on the surface and I suspect neither do many other States.
Every lake is man-made
Oops! All Reservoirs
I wouldn't have included reservoirs. For example, GA has almost no bodies of water that are not reservoirs
@@asajayunknown6290 pretty much all of the appalachain states have little to no natural bodies of water, which is sort of odd
@brqxton8974 yeah, I grew up in Iowa. Cousins were from MN. Always having "discussions" about lakes vs reservoirs. Lakes are generally cleaner, unless it's drought. Then they get green and slimy. Reservoirs are muddier and have some current. I enjoy both, but prefer lakes, except in FL. Not a fan of those large reptiles. 😉
@@asajayunknown6290 fellow Iowan with cousins from minnesota aha!
this is basically the history of the salton sea
Fun fact about Somersville Lake in WV. Normally, the USACE names dams after either the nearest town or the river they’re on. But the nearest town to the Somersville Dam was the former town of Gad. The Corps realized that Gad Dam wasn’t going to fly because of how it sounded, and that Gauley Dam wasn’t much better, so they had to call it Somersville Dam.
YOOOOOO TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES MENTIONED! I used to live there in my childhood. I now live in South Florida, but I miss living in Truth or Consequences (And yes, I did use to swim in the lake 😂). Fond memories were made there; Great video man!
How many Archæans do you have to fend off daily?
Somewhat apocryphal, but the West Virginia legend says that when "Summersville" Dam was built, there was a village near the dam-site called "Gad." It was the Army Corps of Engineers' custom to name the dam and the lake after the nearest town (or village) but nobody in their right mind wanted to call it the "Gad Dam" so they named it after Summersville...which is nowhere really near the dam or even the lakeshore. Various people say that the village of Gad was just on the other side of the dam-site so now is under water...so it's kind of hard to prove whether the story is fact or a bit of folk history. But it's fun either way.
It's West Virginia so it's probably true. Gad Dam, almost heaven.
Gad damn Dam 😂
Kinda surprised that Massachusetts's largest lake wasn't Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg, but after looking it up, it's actually quite small.
The fact that its largest lake, or reservoir, is surrounded by undeveloped land probably does help the water quality a lot. I've noticed that their water is a lot better than other states.
I'm sure it would be first if measuring by how many letters are in its name, rather than by surface area.
FUN FACT: Quabbin reservoir was the target destination for infestation by the Malicious aliens in "Dreamcatcher" the novel/Movie from Stephen King.. Check it out - the movie has lesser known actors of the time - Jason Lee, Thomas Jane, TImothy Olyphant, Damien Lewis... with a stunning cameo by Morgan Freeman.
Access is actually restricted around the Quabbin Reservoir and several towns were abandoned in order to fill the area with water. I hear that the local historical society may do annual walkabouts of the property though.
Lake Chargogg... is also partially in CT which would have taken it out of the running here regardless, however I do love that lake, grew up like 10mins from there and took a lot of pride in learning how to spell it lol
The Lake w/swirl on the thumbnail is BearLake, Idaho/Utah.
No, that's the spiral jetty on the Great Salt Lake.
@@laynapalmer837 Wrong
Fun fact: There are 0 natural lakes in Maryland- which is the only state without a natural lake
Tennessee also had no natural lakes until the Mississippi River earthquakes of 1811-1812 ( one of which is believed to have been the strongest recorded earthquake in US history) REVERSED the flow of that river and created Reelfoot Lake in the northwest corner of the state- still its only natural lake!
Texas as well
Caddo Lake (it’s on the border with Louisiana) is the only one, but again, that’s on the border
KS has natural lakes, just a an oxbow lake-a cut off when the Kansas River changed course.
KS- NO natural lakes.
@@Wemzii0I believe you mean Caddo Lake. Cross Lake is fairly close to Caddo Lake but it is in Louisiana. In fact, 3/4 of Caddo is in Louisiana too.
6:35 Another fun fact about the Quabbin Reservoir in Massachusetts is that 4 whole towns (Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, & Prescott) were flooded to make it.
... and it's pronounced KWAW-bin.
Massholes ruin everything
Not sure if it’s a fun fact but yeah
“amongus”- Epinator88, 2022
Ok I drove through Accident, MD last week, not knowing that was the town I was in and ate at a restaurant called The Ridge. The next day I'm checking my checking account and it shows a charge from MD, with the word Accident...and im like what the hell?
Of all state abbreviations to have after Accident! (Illinois’ abbreviation would fit it better!)
i own a house on lake winnipesaukee's birch island lol, this video is great bro keep it up
Whenever I hear the name Lake Winnipesaukee I think of the movie, "What about Bob!"
Great video. So many states have beautiful largest lakes. My state, CA, has the Salton Sea which stinks to high heaven most of the time.
Not only is Lake Michigan the largest lake entirely in the US, it's the largest lake (by surface area) in the world that is entirely within one country (Lake Baikal, in Russia, is larger by volume, but has a smaller surface area).
Lake Baikal is such an unique place in the world, that geologists have estimated the actual rock lakebed/ floor lies below a couple thousand feet of sediment. It has several different ecosystems, much like the ocean tiers.
Lake superior is the largest lake in the would by surface area not by volume. Sorry lake Michigan is not the largest
@@tonydentonarms4112 Lake Superior, isn't only a US lake.
@@tonydentonarms4112 You seem to have overlooked six very important words in my statement. For ease and convenience, I will restate them here with increased emphasis so they have some chance of registering in your mind. "THAT IS ENTIRELY WITHIN ONE COUNTRY"! Lake Superior, while larger than Lake Michigan, is divided between the US and Canada. The same is true of Lake Huron. Lake Michigan is entirely within one country: the US.
@@tonydentonarms4112 Tony..Tony..Tony..have a cup of tea and think about it.
The great salt pake is probably larger than lliamna lake right now. With last year and this year both having very wet years, causing it to go up a ton over those years
I was gonna say! Why use a metric from three years ago when the lake has surged up since then
But in volume its not even close. Iliamna is thousands of feet deep.
Awesome video! I’d love to see a video about Canada’s largest lakes by province. There’s a lot of big lakes there!
Someone with a voice like yours, you should look into getting work as an announcer or narrator.
Thanks! I'm currently in Sweden commentating the GeoGuessr Asia-Pacific tournament and worked with them for the European one as well. Definitely am interested in pursuing that type of work alongside my current content creation job
What's weird is that Houghton Lake in Michigan is a 6 hour drive from Houghton, MI.
Yeah, I thought Gogebic would have been the largest lake in Michigan...which is much closer to Houghton, Mi. Snowmobiled that lake many times!
I went to Lake Guntersville a few days ago! Beautiful lake, there's an incredible sunset spot there at Weathington Park
I was thinking lake Martin would be the largest
it's RC!
That's wonderful! As a former Alabama resident, I've yet to visit Lake Guntersville, but thanks to you, it's now on my bucket list.
The street view you showed for Lake Sakakawea in North Dakota was actually primarily showing Lake Audubon. The two lakes are separated by an embankment formed by US Highway 83, and the two lakes have been as much as 41' different in surface elevation when the reservoir side is particularly low.
The Snake Creek pumping station on the north end of the highway embankment pumps water from Sakakawea to Audubon, maintaining a target surface elevation of about 1847' ASL for Lake Audubon due to irrigation and water supply requirements.
Sorry for the oversight, and nice catch. I'm in Sweden this week for GeoGuessr commentary work and rushed to get this video finished before my flight - definitely regretting that choice now since I was a little sloppy, but a lesson learned for sure.
@@ChicagoGeographer It's an easy oversight, they look like the same lake! Not a mark on your video's quality, I just noticed and thought I'd share a fun fact. Have fun in Sweden!
Bud, I wanna know which USA lake has the most largemouth bass per Square Yard.
Possibly Erie
Save the GSL so we’re not breathing in arsenic here in Utah!
We don't even consider Fort Peck a "lake" in Montana our biggest lakes are Flathead followed by Canyon Ferry
You should also do largest natural lakes in the US
I grew up in Michigan. Alot of those lakes look like rivers to me 😮
A lot of those lakes are rivers with dams across them. One of the largest is Lake Mead that was at one time 112 miles long and the largest man-made lake in the country. Because of the height of Hoover Dam across the Colorado River, Lake Mead is quite wide at several places. But, at heart, it is still a river with a dam across it. I have been up in the Northeast end of Lake Mead until we could not get the motor to push us any farther due to the swift river current as the Colorado left the Grand Canyon (This was about 1958).
I have driven past blue mesa reservior on US-50 and it truly does have stunning eye candy scenery. Very underrated part of colorado if you ask me
Dude, the first time in was in Colorado we went over the reservoir at maybe 11pm with a full moon. It was amazing the way the moonlight was bouncing off the lake and the mountains.
The black canyon, which is a national park just west of there is also extremely underrated. It's one of my favorite national parks I've been to. (I'm about a third of the way through them).
Candlewood Lake 😍 for whatever reason the US Census has 5 separate communities all named after Candlewood Lake: Candlewood Isle, Candlewood Knolls, Candlewood Lake Club, Candlewood Orchards, and Candlewood Shores
That’s Idaho and Utah’s Bear Lake in the thumbnail, known as the Caribbean of the Rockies.
We have had a couple great snow years, so the GSL is up about 7 feet from where it was at the 2022 record low so it might actually be back in #1. 😁 The 2022 record low was a surface elevation of 4188', it's up to 4195' now. The record in the 1980s was 4211' when it hit that >3200 mi²... it's fairly shallow, so small changes in depth make the surface area change dramatically.
The largest natural lake in New Mexico is called Stinking Lake.
Lake Cumberland in Kentucky has 1,255 miles of shoreline. The state of Florida has 1,355 miles. It’s also 197 ft deep at its deepest
I was curious what would happen if you added in the Canadian provinces to this list, how they would fare. As such, I've reranked the top 20, including lakes entirely within a Canadian province or territory (spoilers, by the way, if you haven't watched the video)
1. Northwest Territories - Great Bear Lake (31,153 km)
2. Manitoba - Lake Winnepeg (24,514 km)
3. Newfoundland and Labrador - Smallwood Reservoir (6,650 km)
4. Nunavut - Nettilling Lake (5,542 km)
5. Ontario - Lake Nipigon (4,848 km)
6. Quebec - Caniapsicau Reservoir (4,318 km)
7. Saskachewan - Wollaston Lake (2,681 km)
8. Alaska - Iliamna Lake (2,622 km)
9. Utah - Great Salt Lake (2,460 km)
10. Florida - Lake Okeechobe (1,891 km)
11. British Colombia - Williston Lake (1,761 km)
12. Louisiana - Lake Pontchartrain (1,634 km)
13. North Dakota - Lake Sakakawea (1,489 km)
14. Alberta - Lake Claire (1,436 km)
15. Minnesota - Red Lake (1,150 km)
16. Nova Scotia - Bras d’Or Lake (1,099 km)
17. Montana - Fort Peck Lake (991 km)
18. California - Salton Sea (824 km)
19. Wisconsin - Lake Winnebago (557 km)
20. Texas - Sam Reyburn Reservoir (464 km)
Sorry about the lack of freedom units.
Requires math.
Grand Lake St Marys was built as a reservoir for the Miami and Erie canal.
I've been Moosehead, but none of the others. That highway over Lake Pontchartrain looks crazy.
I've driven it and it was terrifying! Like driving to the middle of the ocean.
I’d love to see this for Canada next!
Pyramid Lake is wonderful. I live in Michigan, have been to 3 of the 5 Great Lakes, but this is my favorite. It's warm, salty and out in the middle of nowhere. It is on an Indian reservation (or so I was told) and there is no development on the lake. It is like swimming in a heated pool and the scenery is absolutely beautiful. The tufa pyramid is what the lake was named after.
Yeah, that camping trip was damn cold
I've never been colder in my life lmao that was a wild time
Sounds exactly like Indiana 😂
This video really has me wondering all the largest natural lakes in each state. Do any have no natural lakes?
Several states don't really have natural lakes as far as I know, that's another big reason I decided to include the man-made ones
Love this video! Massive fan of all your videos (your US GeoGuessr skills are amazing...) but I love these state run downs. Your Highest Point in Every State is one of my all time faves! Thank you for always making awesome content, CG!
Houghton is the largest by surface area, Higgins beats it in water volume, and due to its depth, Torch lake tops all lakes in Michigan.
Awesome video! Love these more informative ranking style ones. Would be cool too see this same list but for Canadian provinces!
Sorry, but Lake Cumberland in Kentucky is over 100 square miles of surface area. You must have obtained this information when the lake was drawn down for dam repairs a few years ago.
12:25 something else about lake winnebago is that there are 6 lighthouses around the lake.
15:58 many people would think that lake Tahoe is the biggest lake in California (it shares a state border with Nevada). But I drove around Tahoe in about 45 minutes. The Salton Sea took way longer to get around. I was extremely surprised.
Not biggest, but possibly deepest and coldest.
With a voice like yours, you could find a great career as a sportscaster or something of the like!
i would love more geo vids like this if you like making them. super high quality!
MN actually has about 14000, everything from lake como which is basically a large mud puddle to mille lac which is an inland sea
From MN creating or counting reservoirs is cheating 🤣
I actually lived near Milford Lake in Kansas for a couple of years, but didn't know it existed at the time due to living even closer to the similar but slightly smaller Tuttle Creek Reservoir, which was the lake my family always went to when we lived in the area.
They/he could have at least chosen Wilson Lake-a beautiful reservoir with water that is at least swimmable.
The great salt lake has been rising the past few years and has already claimed 1st place again! Great video by the way
There is a 52 square mile lake in Washington that is more than 1400 feet deep, cut by Cascade Mountain glaciers. It is the 3rd deepest lake in the US. It looks like a Norwegian fiord.
I'm not going to tell you its name, because I don't want you to go there. LOL
You're talking about Lake Chelan. I told him so he would go there. 😋
it’s pronounced quahbbin unfortunately lmao but anyways it’s a really nice lake and the history behind it is very cool!
the spiderweb-y alcoves of lake Cumberland, paired with the rocky and forested edges, make for very peaceful and relaxing places to lay anchor and wade. and theres plenty of room for tubing in the wider sections
Montana's largest lake is Flathead lake, largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi
what happened to gravity at moosehead lake at 12:29
What do you mean?
As someone originally from MA, “Quabbin” is pronounced more like “Quawbin” than “Quahbin”
Also, only about half the land is accessible on foot - the rest is strictly off limits to the public, and has become stricter about this over time
Lake Okeechobee - natural? Ha ha ha. There is a huge berm that surrounds it.
We Utahns need to get the Great Salt Lake levels back up and take back our crown
A lot of these "lakes" are really just thicc rivers.
Great Video, though as a native Utahan I do have a comment on the Great Salt Lake. Though it is currently very low, we actually have had two good snow years in a row as of 2024 so the lake has actually been rising recently. If you go to google earth and zoom in on the great salt lake you may notice that it changes size, because the satellite imagery is more recent on the zoomed out image. It's a great way to see how much the lake has recovered, and I hope it continues to do so.
I'm on number 42 as I write this, and I'm subscribing. You have a great voice for UA-cam!
he sure sounds a lot older than he looks! Its that MOVIE ANNOUNCER effect for sure/.
hah I drive on that exact road in RI where you dropped the street view pretty often, my fiance and I call it the scenic route when we have to go to CT, it's slightly longer for us but it's a much prettier drive across the state
I have been to the ones in IN, MI, TN, KY, LA.
And of course I've flown over the great salt lake countless times
Hu
Went to Carlyle Lake for the first time in April as it was JUST inside the path of totality for the eclipse, and I was really impressed! Rent a cabin was very reasonably priced, and getting to camp in a cabin about 15 feet from a lake, that was cool. Highly recommended!
@NicCageCDXX
Glad you liked it, I live in Carlyle
Carlyle is beautiful
My country's largest lake would rank 9th when compared to this list, just after California's Salton Sea and ahead of Wisconsin's Lake Winnebago
Fun fact about Summerville lake in WV. There’s a city at the bottom of the lake that was flooded over
A lot of the man made lakes have old towns underneath them. We have a few in Ohio.
Lake Winnebago is pretty cool; part of the Niagara escarpment runs on its east side. The same escarpment the falls fall over in NY and Ontario.
I almost live along lake Winnebago
To me it’s a large swap. Pretty shallow for a lake that size. No deeper than 20 feet.
Very good video! would love to see more similar to this style
Not me skipping straight to Illinois because I live there too 😂😂😂
Are you commenting the Asian regionals?
I am!
"Extremely rural Montana"
...like what part of Montana isn't "extremely rural" ? THAT'S definitely saying something about Montana if you can describe one area as being "extremely rural"
im a large body of water in the US why am i not on this list
Are you entirely within one state?
for me anyway - nothing better than a grand lake!
Smith Mountain Lake is quite literally my favorite place in the world. My dad and I are actively campaigning to convince my mom for them to move there when they retire.
In Alabama Lake guntersville and Wheeler lake are separated by a damn and are about the same size
Hey, you are good at this. Do it with the countries of the world, please. 🙂
Sound track error.
#21 Missouri narrator says 87 square kilometers.
He should say 87 square miles.
#15 Idaho's Lake Pend Oreille totally rules.
I thought the largest lake in Pennsylvania was Lake Wallenpaupack another man-made lake made by the Army Corps of Engineers
4:18 I can see my parents house!
I grew up about 3/4 mi from lake Winnebago. Nice to see it rank so high.
I live about 15 minutes from Oneida Lake in NYS, and it is enormous. I've gone fishing there before, and when you're in the middle of the lake, you can't see any land around you. I work in the town of Sylvan beach and can catch views of the sun lowering itself beneath the lake some nights, it's beautiful.
About 4 square miles of Lake Guntersville is in Tennessee, not entirely in Alabama.
Lums Pond has a great ziplining/obstacle course thing in the trees that crosses over the pond several times
IM GOING TO CHIGOGO
I've lived my entire life in Florida and had no idea lake Okeechobee was that shallow ._.
How is a reservoir an actual lake. A lake is a natural body of water not one made by a machine.
The only ones I have been to is Watts Bar lake, lake pontchartrain, and Cumberland lake and they were pretty cool
Give the lakes in acres and ill better get the picture.
Multiply the size in square miles times 640 acres will convert to size to acres.
I live about 75 miles from Ohio's largest lake mentioned here. That area was hit by a tornado back in April.
Still have not seen Red Lake! However, I've been to Red Lake County, which is NOT named after the lake but instead Red Lake River.