Largest lakes & reservoirs in Minnesota by water volume
The estimated volume of water that a lake contains is measured at the lake’s normal elevation. By this measure, the world’s largest freshwater lake is Siberia’s Lake Baikal.Water Volume can be measured in acre-feet, in cubic miles, or in cubic kilometers. One acre-foot is the amount of water needed to cover one acre (43,560 square feet) to a depth of one foot. One cubic mile equals 3,379,200 acre-feet. One cubic kilometer equals 810,713 acre-feet. 1 acre-foot is equal to 325,851 US gallons. Siberia’s Lake Baikal contains about 6,276,367,740,000,000 gallons of freshwater – nearly 1 million gallons for every living person on earth.
The other – and more widely used – measure of a lake’s size is the lake’s surface acreage. By that measure, the world’s largest freshwater lake is North America’s Lake Superior.
Note: In the United States, an acre foot is a unit of volume used to refer to large-scale bodies of water. It is defined by the volume of water needed to cover 1 acre of surface area to a depth of 1 foot.
You can find many of the the world’s largest lakes (by water volume) on LakeLubbers. Note: For some lakes, the water volume data is unknown or does not apply, so you may see fewer lakes than the total 116 articles we have published for Minnesota lakes.
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Below are lakes within USA > US Midwest Region > Minnesota > Compared by water volume. This list does not represent all lakes in Minnesota, only the 116 Minnesota lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name | Water vol. in ac-ft | Lake description |
---|---|---|
Lake Traverse, MN/SD (Central Minnesota, Glacial Lakes & Prairies Region, SD, Minnesota, South Dakota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
164,500 ac-ft | Lake Traverse straddles the border of Minnesota’s Central tourism region and South Dakota’s northeastern Great Lakes and Prairie region. Covering more … |
Bowstring Lake (Minnesota, Northeast Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
142,905 ac-ft | Be it fishing, wakeboarding, canoeing or just simply wildlife watching, Bowstring Lake fulfills its visitors every vacation need. Set in Itasca County … |
Big Sandy Lake, MN (Minnesota, Northeast Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
134,018 ac-ft | Big Sandy Lake is located in Minnesota’s northeast Aitkin County, home to over one million acres of hardwood forest and 365 lakes. With the majority o … |
Kabekona Lake, MN (Minnesota, Northwest Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
115,970 ac-ft | They start almost every day this way, sitting on the deck, and watching the loons glide across Kabekona Lake. When they were ready to retire they knew … |
Lake Osakis, MN (Central Minnesota, Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
108,389 ac-ft | (Also known as Osakis Lake) Lake Osakis, stretched across the prairie in the Central Region of Minnesota, has been a vacation destination for several generations of ‘lake lubbers … |
Whitefish Chain of Lakes (Central Minnesota, Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
101,340 ac-ft | (Also known as Pine River Reservoir) Whitefish Chain of Lakes, also known as the Pine River Reservoir, is one of six Mississippi River Headwater Reservoirs in central Minnesota. Located i … |
Big Stone Lake, MN/SD (Central Minnesota, Glacial Lakes & Prairies Region, SD, Minnesota, South Dakota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
98,880 ac-ft | Big Stone Lake’s sparkling blue water covers 12,360 acres and forms the border between western Minnesota and northeastern South Dakota. This picturesq … |
North Long Lake, MN (Central Minnesota, Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
96,098 ac-ft | (Also known as Brainerd Lakes) Covering almost 6,000 acres, North Long Lake is one of the largest and most popular of the Brainerd Lakes. North Long Lake is located in the Central R … |
Crane Lake MN (Minnesota, Northeast Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
92,640 ac-ft | Tucked into the vast and remote wilderness of northeastern Minnesota, Crane Lake is a picture of beauty seemingly taken before the rise of civilizatio … |
Pelican Lake-Otter Tail County, MN (Central Minnesota, Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
90,109 ac-ft | Pelican Lake is a 3,925-acre lake located in northwestern Otter Tail County approximately 7 miles north of Pelican Rapids, Minnesota. Pelican Lake is … |
Lake Lida, MN (Central Minnesota, Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
89,024 ac-ft | (Also known as North Lake Lida) Located in the Central Region of Minnesota, Lake Lida (also known as North Lake Lida) is a 5,564-acre lake known for its prime walleye fishing. With a … |
Pokegama Lake (Minnesota, Northeast Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
80,126 ac-ft | (Also known as Lake Pokegama) Pokegama Lake has been a premier vacation destination for over 100 years. Located on the southwestern side of Grand Rapids, Minnesota in Itasca County … |