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

Updated August 2026

Biggest Lake in Missouri: Truman Lake (55,600 acres)

Truman Lake is Missouri's largest lake per the Missouri State Parks (Missouri Department of Natural Resources). Below: 50 Missouri lakes ranked by surface area.

The largest lake in Missouri is Truman Lake at 55,600 acres , in Benton, Henry, Hickory, St. Clair County, according to the Missouri State Parks (Missouri Department of Natural Resources).

Truman 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 Missouri lakes we do grade, led by Stockton Lake.

Source: Missouri State Parks (Missouri Department of Natural Resources) (2026-07-30). The table below ranks the Missouri lakes in our own index by surface area.

Lakes with area data

24,900

Largest (acres)

325

Median of top 50

26/50

Reservoirs (vs natural)

Reading Missouri's size profile

Missouri's largest lake by surface area is Stockton Lake in Cedar County, spanning 24,900 acres. Most of Missouri'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 Missouri by surface area

#	Lake	County	Surface area	Max depth	Grade
1	Stockton Lake	Cedar	24,900 acres	-	C
2	Harry S Truman Reservoir	Benton	20,198 acres	-	NR
3	Pomme de Terre Lake	Hickory	7,820 acres	-	D
4	Mark Twain Lake	Monroe	3,086 acres	-	NR
5	Silver Lake	Chariton	2,574 acres	-	NR
6	Montrose Lake	Henry	1,700 acres	-	F
7	Clearwater Lake	Reynolds	1,630 acres	-	C
8	Jacomo Lake	Jackson	1,221 acres	-	B
9	Mozingo Lake	Nodaway	1,009 acres	-	NR
10	Swan Lake	Chariton	938 acres	-	NR
11	Lake Thunderhead	Putnam	860 acres	-	NR
12	Cut-Off Lake	Chariton	819 acres	-	NR
13	Fellows Lake	Greene	812 acres	-	A
14	Amax Tailing Pond	Iron	714 acres	-	NR
15	Big Lake	Holt	666 acres	-	NR
16	Lake St Louis	St. Charles	563 acres	-	NR
17	Lake Viking	Daviess	553 acres	-	NR
18	Raintree Lake	Cass	475 acres	-	F
19	Bean Lake	Platte	420 acres	-	NR
20	Harrisonville Lake	Cass	398 acres	-	NR
21	Lewis and Clark Lake	Buchanan	395 acres	-	NR
22	Schell Lake	Vernon	390 acres	-	NR
23	Alton Slough	St. Charles	386 acres	-	NR
24	Goose Creek Lake	Ste. Genevieve	379 acres	-	A
25	Lake Springfield	Greene	360 acres	-	D
26	Alpine Lake	Warren	325 acres	-	A
27	Sugar Creek Lake	Randolph	323 acres	-	C
28	See Lake	Vernon	320 acres	-	NR
29	Lake Contrary	Buchanan	318 acres	-	NR
30	Point Pleasant Chute	New Madrid	313 acres	-	NR
31	Harrison County Lake Intake	Harrison	292 acres	-	D
32	Daniel Boone Lake	Shelby	288 acres	-	NR
33	Edwin A Pape Lake	Lafayette	284 acres	-	NR
34	Lakewood Lake East	Jackson	279 acres	-	NR
35	Lake Winnebago	Cass	272 acres	-	NR
36	Lake Paho	Mercer	269 acres	-	NR
37	South Lake	Chariton	263 acres	-	NR
38	Lake Niangua	Camden	257 acres	-	NR
39	Eugene D Nims Lake	St. Francois	251 acres	-	NR
40	Lake Nehai Tonkayea	Chariton	250 acres	-	A
41	Memphis Lake	Scotland	240 acres	-	NR
42	Hunnewell Lake	Shelby	228 acres	-	C
43	Elmwood Lake	Sullivan	224 acres	-	F
44	Hemitite Lake	St. Francois	220 acres	-	F
45	McDaniel Lake	Greene	219 acres	-	NR
46	Macon City Lake	Macon	205 acres	-	D
47	Sunnen Lake	Washington	198 acres	-	NR
48	Indian Creek Lake	Livingston	192 acres	-	NR
49	Port Perry Lake	Perry	187 acres	-	A
50	Weatherby Lake	Platte	186 acres	-	A

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the largest lake in Missouri?

Truman Lake, at 55,600 acres, in Benton, Henry, Hickory, St. Clair County. Source: Missouri State Parks (Missouri Department of Natural Resources), 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 Missouri's largest lakes natural or reservoirs?

Of the top 50 Missouri lakes by area, 26 sit on a dammed river (reservoirs) and 24 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 Missouri lake in this ranking?

Across the top 50 Missouri lakes by surface area, the median is 325 acres (Alpine Lake). This list is biased toward the biggest waters; the typical Missouri lake is far smaller.

Where to stay near Missouri's largest lakes

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

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