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

Updated August 2026

Biggest Lake in Kansas: Milford Lake (15,709 acres)

Milford Lake is Kansas's largest lake per the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District (official Milford Lake project map, "Surface area, acres: Top multipurpose pool — 15,709"). Below: 50 Kansas lakes ranked by surface area.

The largest lake in Kansas is Milford Lake at 15,709 acres , in Geary, Clay, and Dickinson County, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District (official Milford Lake project map, "Surface area, acres: Top multipurpose pool — 15,709").

Milford Lake isn't in our water-quality index — we grade lakes with enough EPA Water Quality Portal samples to score, which leaves out many large reservoirs and border waters. The ranking below covers the 50 Kansas lakes we do grade, led by Cheney Lake.

Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District (official Milford Lake project map, "Surface area, acres: Top multipurpose pool — 15,709") (2026-07-30). The table below ranks the Kansas lakes in our own index by surface area.

Lakes with area data

28,000

Largest (acres)

1,192

Median of top 50

46/50

Reservoirs (vs natural)

Reading Kansas's size profile

Kansas's largest lake by surface area is Cheney Lake in Sedgwick County, spanning 28,000 acres. Most of Kansas's biggest waters are reservoirs — dammed river valleys built for water supply, flood control, and recreation, so their footprints shift with pool level.

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 report card with grade, clarity, depth, and EPA impairment status. Area figures come from state DNR surveys and the USACE National Inventory of Dams; grades come from EPA and state monitoring data.

The 50 biggest lakes in Kansas by surface area

#	Lake	County	Surface area	Max depth	Grade
1	Cheney Lake	Sedgwick	28,000 acres	-	D
2	Milford Lake	Geary	14,607 acres	-	NR
3	Waconda Lake	Mitchell	13,500 acres	-	D
4	Tuttle Creek Lake	Riley	13,350 acres	-	D
5	Perry Lake	Jefferson	12,200 acres	-	F
6	Webster Lake	Rooks	11,493 acres	-	F
7	Cedar Bluff Lake	Trego	10,790 acres	-	C
8	Kirwin Lake	Phillips	10,640 acres	-	D
9	John Redmond Lake	Coffey	9,671 acres	-	D
10	Wilson Lake	Russell	9,040 acres	-	A
11	El Dorado Lake	Butler	8,400 acres	-	C
12	Lovewell Lake	Jewell	7,635 acres	-	F
13	Clinton Lake	Douglas	7,000 acres	-	C
14	Melvern Lake	Osage	6,930 acres	-	A
15	Norton Lake	Norton	6,551 acres	-	F
16	Marion Lake	Marion	6,210 acres	-	F
17	Wolf Creek Lake	Coffey	5,090 acres	-	NR
18	Hillsdale Lake	Miami	4,580 acres	-	C
19	Elk City Lake	Montgomery	4,440 acres	-	D
20	Pomona Lake	Osage	4,000 acres	-	F
21	Kanopolis Lake	Ellsworth	3,815 acres	-	C
22	Council Grove Lake	Morris	3,259 acres	-	D
23	Toronto Lake	Woodson	2,660 acres	-	D
24	La Cygne Lake	Linn	2,600 acres	-	NR
25	Fall River Lake	Greenwood	2,329 acres	-	D
26	Big Hill Lake	Labette	1,192 acres	-	C
27	Winfield City Lake	Cowley	1,130 acres	-	NR
28	Parsons Lake	Neosho	980 acres	-	B
29	Wellington New City Lake	Sumner	675 acres	-	F
30	Banner Creek Lake	Jackson	535 acres	-	D
31	Bone Creek Lake	Crawford	523 acres	-	B
32	Lake Shawnee	Shawnee	500 acres	-	NR
33	Keith Sebelius Lake	Norton	487 acres	-	NR
34	Murray Gill Lake	Chautauqua	473 acres	-	NR
35	Horsethief Canyon Lake	Hodgeman	452 acres	-	D
36	Dry Lake	Scott	406 acres	-	NR
37	Centralia Lake	Nemaha	404 acres	-	NR
38	Council Grove City Lake	Morris	387 acres	-	NR
39	Wyandotte County Lake	Wyandotte	375 acres	-	NR
40	Lake Kahola	Morris	365 acres	-	NR
41	Fort Scott City Lake	Bourbon	349 acres	-	NR
42	Clark Co State Fishing Lake	Clark	337 acres	-	NR
43	Cedar Valley Lake	Anderson	320 acres	-	NR
44	Otis Creek Lake	Greenwood	259 acres	-	NR
45	Lake Coldwater	Comanche	251 acres	-	NR
46	Harvey Co East Lake	Harvey	240 acres	-	NR
47	Strowbridge Reservoir	Osage	239 acres	-	D
48	Lake Afton	Sedgwick	238 acres	-	F
49	Lake Wabaunsee	Wabaunsee	228 acres	-	B
50	Cedar Creek Reservoir	Bourbon	222 acres	-	A

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the largest lake in Kansas?

Milford Lake, at 15,709 acres, in Geary, Clay, and Dickinson County. Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District (official Milford Lake project map, "Surface area, acres: Top multipurpose pool — 15,709"), 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 Kansas's largest lakes natural or reservoirs?

Of the top 50 Kansas lakes by area, 46 sit on a dammed river (reservoirs) and 4 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 grade 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 Kansas lake in this ranking?

Across the top 50 Kansas lakes by surface area, the median is 1,192 acres (Big Hill Lake). This list is biased toward the biggest waters; the typical Kansas lake is far smaller.

Where to stay near Kansas's largest lakes

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

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