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

Updated August 2026

Biggest Lake in Virginia: Smith Mountain Lake (20,600 acres)

Smith Mountain Lake is Virginia's largest inland lake per the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. Below: 50 Virginia lakes ranked by surface area.

The largest lake in Virginia is Smith Mountain Lake at 20,600 acres , in Bedford and Franklin County, according to the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. John H. Kerr Reservoir (Buggs Island Lake) is larger at 48,900 acres. Virginia's largest lake overall, but this USACE reservoir straddles the state line -- Mecklenburg, Charlotte and Halifax counties in Virginia and Granville, Vance and Warren counties in North Carolina.

See our Smith Mountain Lake water-quality report card NR

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

Lakes with area data

20,400

Largest (acres)

298

Median of top 50

32/50

Reservoirs (vs natural)

Reading Virginia's size profile

Virginia's largest lake by surface area is Dam Lake in Pittsylvania County, spanning 20,400 acres. Most of Virginia'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 Virginia by surface area

#	Lake	County	Surface area	Max depth	Grade
1	Dam Lake	Pittsylvania	20,400 acres	-	A
2	Lake Gaston	Mecklenburg	18,987 acres	-	NR
3	Leesville Lakea-Topb-Middlec-Bot	Pittsylvania	3,270 acres	-	A
4	Dam Lake	Franklin	2,880 acres	-	A
5	Dam Lake	Alleghany	2,530 acres	-	A
6	John H. Kerr Reservoir	Halifax	1,890 acres	-	NR
7	Occoquan Reservoir	Prince William	1,302 acres	-	NR
8	Diascund Reservoir Off Dam	New Kent	1,100 acres	-	B
9	Sandy River Lake	Prince Edward	740 acres	-	D
10	Hicks Lake	Prince Edward	739 acres	-	NR
11	Lake Manassas	Prince William	685 acres	-	NR
12	Carvins Cove Reservoir	Botetourt	569 acres	-	A
13	Near Spillway Lake Mooney	Stafford	518 acres	-	A
14	Emporia Lake	Emporia city	510 acres	-	NR
15	Lake of the Woods	Orange	492 acres	-	NR
16	Lake Whitehurst	Norfolk city	480 acres	-	NR
17	Lunga Reservoir	Stafford	474 acres	-	NR
18	Hunting Run Reservior Lake	Spotsylvania	443 acres	-	A
19	Lake Merriweather Goshen Dam Sidewall	Rockbridge	438 acres	-	NR
20	Near Dam Lake	Albemarle	410 acres	-	C
21	Banister Lakesta	Halifax	400 acres	-	D
22	Laurel Bed Lake	Russell	395 acres	-	A
23	Lee Hall Reservoir	Newport News city	390 acres	-	A
24	Lake Cohoon	Suffolk	371 acres	-	NR
25	Lake Monticello	Fluvanna	334 acres	-	NR
26	Bath County Pumped Storage Lake	Bath	298 acres	-	NR
27	Beaverdam Creek Reservoir	Loudoun	275 acres	-	A
28	Lake Caroline	Caroline	273 acres	-	NR
29	Lake Louisa	Louisa	272 acres	-	NR
30	Lake Tecumseh	Virginia Beach	268 acres	-	NR
31	Fawn Lake	Spotsylvania	265 acres	-	NR
32	Stumpy Lake	Virginia Beach	263 acres	-	NR
33	Lake Culpeper	Culpeper	250 acres	-	D
34	Lake Holiday	Frederick	239 acres	-	NR
35	Great Creek Reservoir	Brunswick	238 acres	-	D
36	Smith Lake	Stafford	225 acres	-	A
37	Burke Lake	Fairfax	223 acres	-	C
38	Martinsville Reservoir	Henry	206 acres	-	A
39	Little Creek Reservoir	Virginia Beach	200 acres	-	NR
40	Speights Run	Suffolk city	197 acres	-	C
41	Mill Cr Reservoir	Amherst	194 acres	-	D
42	Northeast Reservoir	Louisa	187 acres	-	NR
43	Abel Lake	Stafford	185 acres	-	C
44	Sunken Meadow Pond	Surry	173 acres	-	NR
45	Fairy Stone Lake	Patrick	170 acres	-	C
46	Nottoway Lake	Nottoway	170 acres	-	D
47	Avery Millpond	Surry	169 acres	-	NR
48	Talbott Reservoir	Patrick	165 acres	-	A
49	Motts Run Reservoir	Spotsylvania	160 acres	-	A
50	Brunswick County Lake	Brunswick	160 acres	-	D

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the largest lake in Virginia?

Smith Mountain Lake, at 20,600 acres, in Bedford and Franklin County. John H. Kerr Reservoir (Buggs Island Lake) is larger at 48,900 acres. Virginia's largest lake overall, but this USACE reservoir straddles the state line -- Mecklenburg, Charlotte and Halifax counties in Virginia and Granville, Vance and Warren counties in North Carolina. Source: Virginia Department of Wildlife 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 Virginia's largest lakes natural or reservoirs?

Of the top 50 Virginia lakes by area, 32 sit on a dammed river (reservoirs) and 18 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 Virginia lake in this ranking?

Across the top 50 Virginia lakes by surface area, the median is 298 acres (Bath County Pumped Storage Lake). This list is biased toward the biggest waters; the typical Virginia lake is far smaller.

Where to stay near Virginia's largest lakes

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

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