Lake charts by state

Inland water is charted from a different source than salt water. There is no NOAA chart for a reservoir in the middle of Texas, so the water bodies in these packs come from the National Hydrography Dataset, which draws each lake by its shoreline and its name. Minnesota adds Minnesota DNR contour lines on its lakes.

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Each of the 48 states below has its own pack. Between them they carry 252,884 charted water bodies, 85,718 of them named, and 7,896 named lakes larger than one square kilometer. Pick your state to see the largest lakes in its pack and what the numbers mean on that water.

StateWater bodiesNamedOver 1 km²Largest lake in the pack
Alabama5,5301,62386Guntersville Lake
Arizona1,15043842Lake Mead
Arkansas6,7731,526136Bull Shoals Lake
California6,7912,073282Salton Sea
Colorado3,3481,850129Navajo Reservoir
Connecticut1,3921,08961Lake Candlewood
Delaware8192952Union Lake
Florida13,6433,160347Lake Okeechobee
Georgia7,1632,66885J. Strom Thurmond Reservoir
Idaho2,2711,243113Lake Pend Oreille
Illinois5,3681,543118Carlyle Lake
Indiana4,3381,32276Monroe Lake
Iowa2,11365887Rathbun Lake
Kansas3,26156648Kaw Lake
Kentucky2,36455642Kentucky Lake
Louisiana10,4251,366291Lake Pontchartrain
Maine3,9163,115504Moosehead Lake
Maryland87835925Deep Creek Lake
Massachusetts3,4562,520131Quabbin Reservoir
Michigan10,2646,655512Torch Lake
Minnesota22,79910,0071,294Lake of the Woods
Mississippi9,2231,18290Lake Pontchartrain
Missouri3,8731,35372Lake of the Ozarks
Montana8,6452,096176Fort Peck Lake
Nebraska4,3421,32495Lewis and Clark Lake
Nevada1,802731111Lake Mead
New Hampshire2,1231,619144Lake Winnipesaukee
New Jersey1,9431,05853Lake Hopatcong
New Mexico4,33579153Navajo Reservoir
New York6,5693,614334Lake Champlain
North Carolina2,4311,061111Lake Murray
North Dakota18,7451,524219Lake Sakakawea
Ohio2,19671878Pymatuning Reservoir
Oklahoma4,4111,265106Eufaula Lake
Oregon2,7551,335171Goose Lake
Pennsylvania3,3531,580100Pymatuning Reservoir
Rhode Island1,26298627Scituate Reservoir
South Carolina2,25197540Lake Marion
South Dakota10,8001,180161Lake Oahe
Tennessee2,37677970Kentucky Lake
Texas19,8373,667307Toledo Bend Reservoir
Utah1,84774482Great Salt Lake
Vermont1,17886162Lake Champlain
Virginia2,28091161John H. Kerr Reservoir
Washington3,1052,054168Franklin D Roosevelt Lake
West Virginia64726224Deep Creek Lake
Wisconsin8,7575,612478Lake Winnebago
Wyoming3,7361,80492Yellowstone Lake

Counted from the state packs themselves. Each pack reaches past the state line, so a lake near a border is carried whole by both neighboring packs, and the largest lake in a pack can lie in the next state over: Lake Murray, listed for North Carolina, is in South Carolina. Areas are measured from the chart polygon.

Coastal water and the rivers

The states above cover lakes and inland ponds. Salt water, the intracoastal and the Great Lakes are packed by region and counted on the regions page, and the commercial rivers each have a pack and a page of their own.

The state lake packs draw lake shorelines from the USGS National Hydrography Dataset, and a reservoir sits at whatever level it is being held at that week. Treat the shape as a guide, keep a lookout, and verify locally.

Common questions

Which states does Helm chart lakes in?

48 states have their own inland pack, listed on this page. Between them the packs carry 252,884 charted water bodies, 85,718 of them named, and 7,896 named lakes larger than one square kilometer.

Where does lake depth come from, if lakes are not on nautical charts?

In the state lake packs it comes from Minnesota DNR contour lines, drawn on Minnesota's lakes. The other state packs take the shoreline and the water bodies from the National Hydrography Dataset, so a lake in them is drawn by its outline and its name.

How are the lake areas on these pages measured?

Each figure is the surface area of the chart polygon itself, measured from the pack. A reservoir sits at whatever level it is being held at, so treat the area as the charted extent rather than as today's shoreline.

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