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

Updated August 2026

Biggest Lake in Texas: Sam Rayburn Reservoir (114,500 acres)

Sam Rayburn Reservoir is Texas's largest inland lake per the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). Below: 50 Texas lakes ranked by surface area.

The largest lake in Texas is Sam Rayburn Reservoir at 114,500 acres , in Jasper County (dam site); reservoir also spans Angelina, Nacogdoches, Sabine, San Augustine and Tyler counties County, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). Toledo Bend is the largest body of water in Texas overall, but TPWD describes it as 'straddling the Texas-Louisiana state line' — roughly half its surface is in Louisiana, so Sam Rayburn is the largest lake entirely inside Texas.

See our Sam Rayburn Reservoir water-quality report card C

Source: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) (2026-07-30). The table below ranks the Texas lakes in our own index by surface area.

Lakes with area data

182,490

Largest (acres)

13,782

Median of top 50

24/50

Reservoirs (vs natural)

Reading Texas's size profile

Texas's largest lake by surface area is Toledo Bend Reservoir Southwest of Haddens in Newton County, spanning 182,490 acres. Most of Texas'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 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 Texas by surface area

#	Lake	County	Surface area	Max depth	Grade
1	Toledo Bend Reservoir Southwest of Haddens	Newton	182,490 acres	-	NR
2	Amistad Reservoir	Val Verde	89,000 acres	-	NR
3	Lake Livingston	Trinity	83,212 acres	-	NR
4	Falcon Reservoir	Zapata	80,555 acres	-	NR
5	Sabine Lake	Orange	56,867 acres	-	NR
6	Cedar Creek Reservoir	Henderson	32,711 acres	-	NR
7	Ray Roberts Lake	Cooke	29,350 acres	-	D
8	Texas Industries Lake	Navarro	28,298 acres	-	NR
9	Lake Fork Reservoir	Wood	27,690 acres	-	NR
10	Whitney Lake	Hill	23,560 acres	-	D
11	Twin Buttes Reservoir	Tom Green	23,508 acres	-	NR
12	Lewisville Lake	Denton	23,280 acres	-	D
13	Lake Buchanan	Burnet	21,983 acres	-	NR
14	Lavon Lake	Collin	21,400 acres	-	F
15	Choke Canyon Reservoir	Live Oak	19,889 acres	-	NR
16	Lake O the Pines Mid Lake	Marion	18,700 acres	-	F
17	Lake Corpus Christi	Live Oak	18,044 acres	-	NR
18	Lake Travis	Travis	18,003 acres	-	NR
19	Lake Kemp	Baylor	16,540 acres	-	NR
20	Lake Meredith	Hutchinson	16,513 acres	-	A
21	Bois D'Arc Lake	Fannin	16,500 acres	-	B
22	Lake Meredith	Moore	16,311 acres	-	NR
23	Hubbard Creek Reservoir	Stephens	14,922 acres	-	B
24	B A Steinhagen Reservoir	Jasper	14,700 acres	-	C
25	Lake Corsicana	Navarro	14,338 acres	-	NR
26	Lake Arrowhead	Clay	13,782 acres	-	NR
27	Lake Limestone	Leon	12,553 acres	-	NR
28	O. H. Ivie Reservoir	Coleman	12,283 acres	-	NR
29	Monticello Reservoir	Camp	10,608 acres	-	NR
30	Lake Bridgeport	Wise	10,563 acres	-	NR
31	Lake Texana	Jackson	9,325 acres	-	NR
32	Belton Lake	Bell	9,083 acres	-	NR
33	Eagle Mountain Lake	Tarrant	8,613 acres	-	NR
34	Canyon Lake	Comal	8,308 acres	-	NR
35	Lake J B Thomas	Scurry	7,820 acres	-	NR
36	Lake Granbury	Hood	7,522 acres	-	NR
37	Grapevine Lake	Tarrant	7,380 acres	-	D
38	Red Bluff Reservoir	Reeves	7,337 acres	-	D
39	Lake Brownwood	Brown	7,300 acres	-	D
40	Waco Lake	McLennan	7,270 acres	-	NR
41	Cooling Water Reservoir	Matagorda	6,958 acres	-	NR
42	Joe Pool Lake	Dallas	6,495 acres	-	NR
43	Stillhouse Hollow Lake	Bell	6,358 acres	-	NR
44	Green Lake	Calhoun	6,050 acres	-	NR
45	Lake Kickapoo	Archer	6,026 acres	-	NR
46	Pat Mayse Reservoir	Lamar	5,993 acres	-	C
47	Lake Lyndon B Johnson	Llano	5,941 acres	-	NR
48	O C Fisher Reservoir	Tom Green	5,400 acres	-	NR
49	Medina Lake	Bandera	5,343 acres	-	NR
50	Navarro Mills Lake	Navarro	5,070 acres	-	F

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the largest lake in Texas?

Sam Rayburn Reservoir, at 114,500 acres, in Jasper County (dam site); reservoir also spans Angelina, Nacogdoches, Sabine, San Augustine and Tyler counties County. Toledo Bend is the largest body of water in Texas overall, but TPWD describes it as 'straddling the Texas-Louisiana state line' — roughly half its surface is in Louisiana, so Sam Rayburn is the largest lake entirely inside Texas. Source: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), 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 Texas's largest lakes natural or reservoirs?

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

Across the top 50 Texas lakes by surface area, the median is 13,782 acres (Lake Arrowhead). This list is biased toward the biggest waters; the typical Texas lake is far smaller.

Where to stay near Texas's largest lakes

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

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