Lake charts by state

Inland water is charted from a different source than salt water. There is no NOAA chart for a reservoir in the middle of Texas, so lake depth in Helm is built from state elevation surveys and the water bodies themselves come from the National Hydrography Dataset. That is what turns a lake from a blue shape into water you can plan a route across against your draft.

Each of the 48 states below has its own pack. Between them they carry 252,884 charted water bodies, 85,718 of them named, and 7,896 named lakes larger than one square kilometer. Pick your state to see the largest lakes in its pack and what the numbers mean on that water.

State	Water bodies	Named	Over 1 km²	Largest lake in the pack
Alabama	5,530	1,623	86	Guntersville Lake
Arizona	1,150	438	42	Lake Mead
Arkansas	6,773	1,526	136	Bull Shoals Lake
California	6,791	2,073	282	Salton Sea
Colorado	3,348	1,850	129	Navajo Reservoir
Connecticut	1,392	1,089	61	Lake Candlewood
Delaware	819	295	2	Union Lake
Florida	13,643	3,160	347	Lake Okeechobee
Georgia	7,163	2,668	85	J. Strom Thurmond Reservoir
Idaho	2,271	1,243	113	Lake Pend Oreille
Illinois	5,368	1,543	118	Carlyle Lake
Indiana	4,338	1,322	76	Monroe Lake
Iowa	2,113	658	87	Rathbun Lake
Kansas	3,261	566	48	Kaw Lake
Kentucky	2,364	556	42	Kentucky Lake
Louisiana	10,425	1,366	291	Lake Pontchartrain
Maine	3,916	3,115	504	Moosehead Lake
Maryland	878	359	25	Deep Creek Lake
Massachusetts	3,456	2,520	131	Quabbin Reservoir
Michigan	10,264	6,655	512	Torch Lake
Minnesota	22,799	10,007	1,294	Lake of the Woods
Mississippi	9,223	1,182	90	Lake Pontchartrain
Missouri	3,873	1,353	72	Lake of the Ozarks
Montana	8,645	2,096	176	Fort Peck Lake
Nebraska	4,342	1,324	95	Lewis and Clark Lake
Nevada	1,802	731	111	Lake Mead
New Hampshire	2,123	1,619	144	Lake Winnipesaukee
New Jersey	1,943	1,058	53	Lake Hopatcong
New Mexico	4,335	791	53	Navajo Reservoir
New York	6,569	3,614	334	Lake Champlain
North Carolina	2,431	1,061	111	Lake Murray
North Dakota	18,745	1,524	219	Lake Sakakawea
Ohio	2,196	718	78	Pymatuning Reservoir
Oklahoma	4,411	1,265	106	Eufaula Lake
Oregon	2,755	1,335	171	Goose Lake
Pennsylvania	3,353	1,580	100	Pymatuning Reservoir
Rhode Island	1,262	986	27	Scituate Reservoir
South Carolina	2,251	975	40	Lake Marion
South Dakota	10,800	1,180	161	Lake Oahe
Tennessee	2,376	779	70	Kentucky Lake
Texas	19,837	3,667	307	Toledo Bend Reservoir
Utah	1,847	744	82	Great Salt Lake
Vermont	1,178	861	62	Lake Champlain
Virginia	2,280	911	61	John H. Kerr Reservoir
Washington	3,105	2,054	168	Franklin D Roosevelt Lake
West Virginia	647	262	24	Deep Creek Lake
Wisconsin	8,757	5,612	478	Lake Winnebago
Wyoming	3,736	1,804	92	Yellowstone Lake

Counted from the state packs themselves. Areas are measured from the chart polygon, so a lake that crosses a state line is counted in each state for the part that state's pack carries.

Coastal water and the rivers

The states above cover lakes and inland ponds. Salt water, the intracoastal and the Great Lakes are packed by region and counted on the regions page, and the commercial rivers each have a pack and a page of their own.

Common questions

Which states does Helm chart lakes in?

48 states have their own inland pack, listed on this page. Between them the packs carry 252,884 charted water bodies, 85,718 of them named, and 7,896 named lakes larger than one square kilometer.

Where does lake depth come from, if lakes are not on nautical charts?

Inland lake depth is built from state elevation surveys rather than from NOAA charts, which is what makes a lake charted water in Helm rather than a blank shape. The shoreline and the water bodies themselves come from the National Hydrography Dataset.

How are the lake areas on these pages measured?

Each figure is the surface area of the chart polygon itself, measured from the pack. A reservoir sits at whatever level it is being held at, so treat the area as the charted extent rather than as today's shoreline.