Two canoes crossing open water between forested points in the Boundary Waters

Updated August 2026

Biggest Lake in Alabama: Lake Guntersville (69,100 acres)

Lake Guntersville is Alabama's largest lake per the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (Outdoor Alabama). Below: 50 Alabama lakes ranked by surface area.

The largest lake in Alabama is Lake Guntersville at 69,100 acres , in Marshall and Jackson County, according to the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (Outdoor Alabama).

See our Lake Guntersville water-quality readings —

Source: Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (Outdoor Alabama) (2026-07-30). The table below ranks the Alabama lakes in our own index by surface area.

Lakes with area data

40,000

Largest (acres)

839

Median of top 50

16/50

Reservoirs (vs natural)

Reading Alabama's size profile

Alabama's largest lake by surface area is Yate Lake in Tallapoosa County, spanning 40,000 acres. Most of Alabama's biggest waters are natural basins left by glaciers, with stable shorelines and deep main basins.

Surface area is a poor proxy for water quality on its own — a large lake can hold a clean, deep core and a nutrient-loaded bay at the same time. Each lake below links to its full page with nutrient readings, clarity, depth, and EPA impairment status. Area figures come from state DNR surveys and the USACE National Inventory of Dams; water-quality readings come from EPA and state monitoring data.

The 50 biggest lakes in Alabama by surface area

#	Lake	County	Surface area	Max depth
1	Yate Lake	Tallapoosa	40,000 acres	-
2	Lewis Smith Lake	Cullman	19,662 acres	160.8 ft
3	Danw Lake	Wilcox	17,200 acres	-
4	Wilson Lake	Lauderdale	15,535 acres	-
5	Wdfa Lake	Lowndes	12,300 acres	-
6	Dems Lake	Sumter	10,000 acres	-
7	Cofc Lake	Choctaw	8,500 acres	-
8	Alip Lake	Pickens	8,300 acres	-
9	Warg Lake	Hale	7,800 acres	-
10	Lake Jordan	Elmore	6,800 acres	-
11	Gaig Lake	Greene	6,400 acres	-
12	Lake Tuscaloosa	Tuscaloosa	5,076 acres	92 ft
13	R L Harris Reservoir	Randolph	4,879 acres	134.5 ft
14	Wheeler Reservoir	Limestone	4,781 acres	-
15	Bankhead Lake	Tuscaloosa	4,114 acres	-
16	Cedar Creek Reservoir	Franklin	4,063 acres	80 ft
17	Holt Lake	Tuscaloosa	3,300 acres	-
18	Tenr Lake	Lauderdale	3,220 acres	-
19	Little Lagoon	Baldwin	2,533 acres	-
20	William 'Bill' Dannelly Reservoir	Wilcox	1,927 acres	-
21	Gantt Lake	Covington	1,817 acres	-
22	Lake Andrews	Houston	1,540 acres	-
23	Ubam Lake	Marion	1,470 acres	-
24	Lbrf Lake	Franklin	1,300 acres	-
25	Lay Lake	Shelby	859 acres	-
26	Negro Lake	Baldwin	839 acres	-
27	Bear Bay	Covington	704 acres	-
28	Ptac Lake	Covington	700 acres	-
29	Lake Tholocco	Dale	679 acres	-
30	William Bacon Oliver Lake	Tuscaloosa	663 acres	129 ft
31	Bear Creek Reservoir	Franklin	654 acres	-
32	Oyster Bay	Baldwin	600 acres	-
33	Thue Lake	Elmore	574 acres	-
34	Prattville Industrial Board Waste Pond	Autauga	552 acres	-
35	Lake Catoma	Cullman	527 acres	82 ft
36	The T	Baldwin	473 acres	-
37	Sehoy Lake	Bullock	450 acres	-
38	Bayview Lake	Jefferson	412 acres	-
39	Three Rivers Lake	Washington	332 acres	-
40	Speigner Lake	Elmore	312 acres	-
41	South Lake	Clarke	311 acres	-
42	Cypress Swamp	Sumter	287 acres	-
43	MacMillan Bloedel Incorporated Waste Pond	Wilcox	266 acres	-
44	Jacobs Swamp	Autauga	266 acres	-
45	Justins Bay	Baldwin	263 acres	-
46	Whitesides Mill Lake	Calhoun	252 acres	-
47	Highland Lake	Blount	235 acres	-
48	Wehapa Lake	Shelby	197 acres	-
49	Steelwood Lake	Baldwin	196 acres	-
50	Gerald Wallace Lake Number Two	Montgomery	196 acres	-

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the largest lake in Alabama?

Lake Guntersville, at 69,100 acres, in Marshall and Jackson County. Source: Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (Outdoor Alabama), 2026-07-30.

How is lake surface area measured?

Surface area comes from state DNR lake surveys and, for reservoirs, US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) National Inventory of Dams records. Area is reported in acres at normal pool level. Reservoirs rise and fall with management and drought, so their listed area is the long-term normal rather than a single-day reading.

Are Alabama's largest lakes natural or reservoirs?

Of the top 50 Alabama lakes by area, 16 sit on a dammed river (reservoirs) and 34 are natural basins. Glacial states (MN, WI, MI, NY) skew natural; plains and southern states (MO, IA, ND, OH) skew toward reservoirs built for water supply, flood control, and recreation.

Do larger lakes have better water quality?

Not reliably. Quality varies more within a big lake than between lakes — a large lake can have a clean, deep main basin and a murky, algae-prone bay fed by a tributary, so one reading can mask wide swings. Depth, watershed land use, and how fast the lake flushes matter far more than raw surface area.

How big is the typical Alabama lake in this ranking?

Across the top 50 Alabama lakes by surface area, the median is 839 acres (Negro Lake). This list is biased toward the biggest waters; the typical Alabama lake is far smaller.

Where to stay near Alabama's largest lakes

Planning a trip? Jump to live cabin, resort, and hotel availability near Alabama's biggest lakes.

Deepest lakes in Alabama →Cleanest lakes in Alabama →Largest lakes (all states) →All Alabama lakes →