Deepest reservoirs in the United States

Deepest reservoirs in the United States ranked by vertical depth.

Last updated . Source: Wikidata.

As of 2026-08-21, Lake Chelan tops the list with 453 m.

  1. #1 Lake Chelan — 453 m

    lake in Chelan County, Washington, United States of America

    Lake Chelan is a narrow, 50.5 mi (81.3 km) long lake in Chelan County, north-central Washington state, U.S. It is an overdeepened lake and resembles a fjord, with an average width of 1.3 mi (2.1 km). Near its upper end, the lake surface lies more than 6,600 ft (2,000 m) below peaks less than 3 mi (4.8 km) away. Before 1927, Lake Chelan was the largest natural lake in the state, in terms of both surface area and water volume. Upon the completion of Lake Chelan Dam in 1927, the elevation... Read more on Wikipedia.

    Wikidata
  2. #2 Baker Lake — 215 m

    lake in Washington State, USA

    Baker Lake is a lake in northern Washington state in the United States. The lake is situated in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and Baker River valley southwest of North Cascades National Park and is fed by the Baker River along with numerous smaller tributaries. The lake is approximately 10 miles (16 km) north of the town of Concrete, Washington. Read more on Wikipedia.

    Wikidata
  3. #3 Ross Lake — 165 m

    reservoir in Washington state, United States of America and British Columbia, Canada

    Ross Lake is a large reservoir in the North Cascade mountains of northern Washington state, United States, and southwestern British Columbia, Canada. The lake runs approximately north–south, is 23 miles (37 km) long, up to 1.5 miles (2.5 km) wide, and the full reservoir elevation is 1,604 feet above sea level. Read more on Wikipedia.

    Wikidata
  4. #4 Lake Mead — 162 m

    reservoir on the Colorado River, Nevada and Arizona in the United States

    Lake Mead is a reservoir formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in the Southwestern United States. It is located in the states of Nevada and Arizona, 24 mi (39 km) east of Las Vegas. It is the largest reservoir in the US in terms of water capacity. Lake Mead provides water to the states of Arizona, California, and Nevada as well as some of Mexico, providing sustenance to nearly 20 million people and large areas of farmland. Lake Mead fell to its lowest level since its original filling... Read more on Wikipedia.

    Wikidata
  5. #5 Shasta Lake — 158 m

    reservoir behind Shasta Dam in California, United States

    Shasta Lake, also popularly known as Lake Shasta, is a reservoir in Shasta County, California, United States. It began to store water in 1944 due to the impounding of the Sacramento River by Shasta Dam, the ninth-tallest dam in the U.S. Read more on Wikipedia.

    Wikidata
  6. #6 Lake Powell — 150 m

    reservoir Utah and Arizona in the United States

    Lake Powell is a reservoir on the Colorado River in Utah and Arizona, United States. It is a major vacation destination visited by approximately two million people every year. It holds 24,322,000 acre-feet (3.0001×1010 m3) of water when full, second in the United States to only the downstream reservoir of Lake Mead – though Lake Mead has fallen below Lake Powell in size several times during the 21st century in terms of volume of water, depth and surface area. Read more on Wikipedia.

    Wikidata
  7. #7 Lake Wister — 146 m

    body of water

    Lake Wister is a reservoir in Le Flore County, in southeast Oklahoma. The lake is created by the Poteau River and the Fourche Maline creek. Wister Lake was authorized for flood control and conservation by the Flood Control Act of 1938. The project was designed and built by the Tulsa District Corps of Engineers. Construction began in April 1946, and the project was placed in full flood-control operation in December 1949. Read more on Wikipedia.

    Wikidata
  8. #8 Jackson Lake — 134 m

    lake in Wyoming

    Jackson Lake is in Grand Teton National Park in northwestern Wyoming. This natural lake was enlarged by the construction of the Jackson Lake Dam originally built in 1911, enlarged in 1916 and rebuilt by 1989. As part of the Minidoka Project the top 33 ft (10 m) of the lake is used by farmers in Idaho for irrigation purposes under water rights legislation enacted prior to the establishment of Grand Teton National Park. The lake is the remnant of large glacial gouging from the neighboring Teton... Read more on Wikipedia.

    Wikidata
  9. #9 Fontana Lake — 130 m

    artificial lake in North Carolina

    Fontana Lake is a reservoir impounded by Fontana Dam on the Little Tennessee River, and is located in Graham and Swain counties in North Carolina. The lake forms part of the southern border of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the northern border of part of the Nantahala National Forest. Depending on water levels, the lake is about 17 miles (27 km) long. The eastern end is the Tuckasegee River near Bryson City. It has an average depth of 135 feet (41 m) and reaches a maximum depth of... Read more on Wikipedia.

    Wikidata
  10. #10 Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake — 121 m

    body of water

    Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake is the reservoir created in 1941 by the impoundment of the Columbia River by the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington state. It is named for Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was president during the construction of the dam. Covering 125 square miles, it stretches about 150 miles (240 km) from the Canada–US border to Grand Coulee Dam, with over 600 miles (970 km) of shoreline; by surface area it is the largest lake and reservoir in Washington. It is the home of the Lake... Read more on Wikipedia.

    Wikidata