Lake Maps: Explore Lakes Across the United States

Lake Sidney Lanier is an impoundment on the Chattahoochee and Chestatee Rivers in northern Georgia, constructed and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Completed in 1956 following the construction of Buford Dam, the reservoir provides primary drinking water for metropolitan Atlanta, hosts millions of recreational visitors annually, and served as the rowing and canoe sprint venue during the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.

Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake situated in the Sierra Nevada of the United States, straddling the state line between California and Nevada. Formed approximately two million years ago as part of the Lake Tahoe Basin, it is the second deepest lake in the United States (1,645 feet) and the sixth largest lake by volume in the nation. It is internationally famous for its exceptional water clarity, cobalt blue color, and surrounding alpine ski and hiking terrain.

Crater Lake is a caldera lake located in south-central Oregon. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and is famous for its intense blue color and water clarity. The lake partly fills a 2,148-foot-deep caldera that was formed around 7,700 years ago by the catastrophic collapse of the volcano Mount Mazama. Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States and the ninth deepest lake in the world.

Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in the United States in terms of water capacity, formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River. Situated 24 miles east of Las Vegas across Nevada and Arizona, the lake supplies critical water to over 25 million people across Nevada, California, Arizona, and northern Mexico, while serving as the center of Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

Lake Powell is an immense man-made reservoir on the Colorado River in Utah and northern Arizona, created by the flooding of Glen Canyon behind Glen Canyon Dam. With nearly 2,000 miles of winding canyon shoreline, it is celebrated for towering red Navajo sandstone cliffs, side slot canyons, houseboating, and natural arches including Rainbow Bridge National Monument.

Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area (31,700 sq miles / 20.28 million acres) and the third largest by volume, holding 10% of the world’s surface fresh water. Shared by Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Canadian province of Ontario, Superior is known for its cold, clear, oceanic-scale waters, historic shipwrecks, and dramatic sandstone sea cliffs like Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.