Largest lakes & reservoirs in California 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 75 articles we have published for California lakes.

Thinking about booking a California lake vacation home rental, cabin or hotel?

Use our free interactive vacation rental map to search and compare multiple vacation properties at a glance. Enter a lake name, a state or city and then simply click on a listing to compare all similar properties, best rates and availability for your dates.

Search results: Sort lakes by miles of shoreline


Below are lakes within USA > US West Region > California > Compared by longest shoreline length in miles. This list does not represent all lakes in California, only the 75 California lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.