# 10 largest lakes in Oklahoma

> Oklahoma's biggest lakes are broad, branching reservoirs built across major rivers. By the surface-area figures most often published for normal or full conservation pool, Lake Eufaula ranks first at about 105,500 acres. Lake Texoma follows at about 88,000 acres, including water on...

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Published: 2026-08-21T23:10:15+00:00
Categories: Statistics, Water

![Aerial view of Eufaula Lake and Dam in Oklahoma](https://www.argo.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/authority_featured_eufaula_lake_dam_oklahoma.jpg)

Oklahoma's biggest lakes are broad, branching reservoirs built across major rivers. By the surface-area figures most often published for normal or full conservation pool, **Lake Eufaula** ranks first at about 105,500 acres. Lake Texoma follows at about 88,000 acres, including water on both sides of the Oklahoma-Texas line.

The list below ranks ten named lakes by water-surface area rather than storage capacity, shoreline length, watershed size or surrounding parkland. Most figures come from the [Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation](https://www.wildlifedepartment.com/fishing/wheretofish/southeast/eufaula), the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, the Grand River Dam Authority and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Actual water coverage rises and falls with rainfall and releases. Operating schedules also move the shoreline, so each number is a normal-pool approximation rather than a live measurement. All ten entries are reservoirs created by dams, although their river valleys produce very different depths and outlines.

## How the lakes were ranked

Surface area measures the horizontal footprint of a lake at a stated elevation. This ranking uses each managing agency's commonly published normal-pool or conservation-pool figure. Those values provide a consistent statewide comparison even when a newer shoreline survey produces a smaller mapped outline. Flood-pool acreage is excluded because it describes temporary high water. Capacity, measured in acre-feet, answers a different question by estimating the volume held behind a dam.

Lake Texoma is included because Oklahoma shares the reservoir with Texas and administers a substantial part of its water and shoreline. Readers comparing the state's large reservoirs with natural basins can also explore [North America's largest lakes](https://www.argo.net/10-largest-lakes-in-north-america-ranked-by-surface-area/) and learn [how glaciers formed the Great Lakes](https://www.argo.net/how-the-great-lakes-formed/).

## 1. Lake Eufaula: about 105,500 acres

**Lake Eufaula** is Oklahoma's largest lake by the standard figure used by state agencies. The reservoir spreads through east-central Oklahoma behind a dam on the Canadian River system. Long arms reach into the Canadian, North Canadian and Deep Fork valleys, producing a water footprint far larger than a simple oval basin. Those arms also place the shoreline in several counties and expose broad, shallow margins when water levels decline.

The published acreage varies with the map and measurement method. The Wildlife Department lists 105,500 acres, while a 2024 fisheries survey describes about 102,500 acres and a Corps recreation analysis mapped roughly 97,000 acres at elevation 585 feet. The ranking uses 105,500 because it remains the state's official reference figure at conservation pool. Sediment changes the mapped basin over time. Shoreline detail and GIS methods account for more of the spread among estimates.

## 2. Lake Texoma: about 88,000 acres

**Lake Texoma** occupies the Red River valley along Oklahoma's southern border. Denison Dam impounds the Red River just below its meeting with the Washita River. The [state fisheries profile](https://wildlifedepartment.com/fishing/wheretofish/southeast/texoma) gives the reservoir a normal reference area of 88,000 acres and a storage volume of about 2.72 million acre-feet. Its basin reaches westward along both rivers, which accounts for the lake's large footprint across two states.

Some references round the area to 89,000 acres. Seasonal lake levels can produce much larger differences in the water actually visible on a given date. This ranking counts the entire interstate reservoir under the stated shared-water rule. It does not claim that all 88,000 acres lie within Oklahoma.

## 3. Grand Lake O' the Cherokees: about 46,500 acres

Pensacola Dam created **Grand Lake O' the Cherokees** on the Grand River in northeastern Oklahoma. The [Grand River Dam Authority](https://grda.com/electricity/) publishes the familiar 46,500-acre design figure. A web of river arms and coves gives the lake a much more intricate outline than its area alone suggests. Water entering from the Neosho and Spring river system drains a watershed that extends beyond Oklahoma.

A 2008 and 2009 Oklahoma Water Resources Board survey mapped 41,779 acres at the 745-foot normal-pool elevation. The survey report cautioned that its modern methods differed from those used for the original design estimate. We retain 46,500 as the manager's commonly cited full-pool value, while the survey result shows why surface-area rankings should be read as approximations.

## 4. Robert S. Kerr Reservoir: about 43,800 acres

**Robert S. Kerr Reservoir** is a navigation pool on the Arkansas River near Sallisaw. It forms part of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, where locks and managed pools let commercial vessels move between the Tulsa area and the Mississippi River system. The lake also receives water from the Canadian River and several eastern Oklahoma streams. Its operating level therefore serves navigation as well as hydroelectric generation and aquatic habitat.

The [Wildlife Department lists 43,800 surface acres](https://www.wildlifedepartment.com/fishing/wheretofish/southeast/robert-s-kerr), making Kerr slightly smaller than Grand Lake under the figures used here. Other federal records give about 42,000 acres because navigation-pool mapping and shoreline treatment differ. Kerr's shallow upper reaches contain islands, sandbars and broad wetland margins.

## 5. Oologah Lake: about 29,460 acres

**Oologah Lake** impounds the Verdigris River north of Claremore. Its long north-south basin stores water for flood-risk management and municipal supply. Releases also support flows toward the McClellan-Kerr navigation system downstream. Because the upper lake occupies a low-gradient river valley, relatively small elevation changes can expose wide mudflats around its margins.

Oklahoma's official [Oologah Lake profile](https://www.wildlifedepartment.com/fishing/wheretofish/northeast/oologah-lake) reports 29,460 surface acres, along with roughly 217 miles of shoreline. At that normal-pool scale, Oologah is substantially larger than Keystone Lake, the next reservoir in the ranking. Floodwater can temporarily spread beyond the ordinary shoreline.

## 6. Keystone Lake: about 23,610 acres

The Arkansas and Cimarron rivers meet inside **Keystone Lake**, west of Tulsa. Their combined drainage area carries water and sediment from a large part of the southern Great Plains. Keystone Dam moderates floods approaching the Tulsa metropolitan area while the conservation pool supports water supply and recreation. The two river arms also give the reservoir a forked plan that spreads its acreage across Osage, Creek and Tulsa counties.

The Oklahoma Water Resources Board records [23,610 acres at normal elevation](https://www.owrb.ok.gov/lok/pdf/Keystone.pdf). Its lake sheet separates that surface measurement from 557,600 acre-feet of capacity, which measures water volume. Keeping those units separate prevents a deep reservoir from receiving an artificially high surface-area rank.

## 7. Fort Gibson Lake: about 19,900 acres

**Fort Gibson Lake** lies on the lower Grand River southeast of Tulsa. Water from Grand Lake and Lake Hudson eventually enters Fort Gibson, making it the downstream member of a connected three-reservoir system. The dam supplies hydropower and helps maintain dependable flows for navigation farther down the Arkansas basin. Its ordinary shoreline extends through Wagoner, Cherokee and Mayes counties.

The [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers](https://www.swt.usace.army.mil/Locations/Tulsa-District-Lakes/Oklahoma/Fort-Gibson-Lake/) describes a 19,900-acre lake at normal pool. During floods, its surface can expand to about 51,000 acres. This ranking excludes that temporary flood extent, which would create a misleading comparison with the conservation pools used elsewhere.

## 8. Kaw Lake: about 19,427 acres

**Kaw Lake** occupies the Arkansas River valley east of Ponca City. The reservoir sits upstream of Keystone and helps manage floods across the same river system. Prairie tributaries deliver sediment to its upper reaches, so improved mapping can alter the calculated shoreline and surface area. Conservation storage also supports a hydroelectric plant at the dam and water supply contracts in the region.

Older recreation pages commonly describe roughly 17,000 acres of open water. A [2026 Corps master plan](https://www.swt.usace.army.mil/Portals/41/docs/missions/recreation/masterplan/kaw/Kaw_MP_EA_6-2026.pdf) uses updated GIS data and reports approximately 19,427 acres at the top of conservation pool. The newer conservation-pool calculation places Kaw just below Fort Gibson. Readers can compare another Plains-state ranking in the planned article on the [largest lakes in Nebraska](https://www.argo.net/10-largest-lakes-in-nebraska/).

## 9. Broken Bow Lake: about 14,200 acres

**Broken Bow Lake** follows the Mountain Fork River through the forested Ouachita region of southeastern Oklahoma. Its narrow arms conceal a substantial surface area, while the steep surrounding terrain gives the reservoir unusual depth. The lake reaches about 169 feet at its deepest point according to state fisheries data. Its 918,070 acre-feet of listed storage help explain why it holds more water than some broader, shallower reservoirs.

The [official lake profile](https://www.wildlifedepartment.com/fishing/wheretofish/southeast/broken-bow-lake) lists 14,200 surface acres at its standard operating level. Broken Bow ranks below Kaw even though it stores a large volume of water, a useful example of how basin depth changes the relationship between area and capacity. A mountain-state comparison appears in the planned guide to the [largest lakes in Utah](https://www.argo.net/10-largest-lakes-in-utah/).

## 10. Sardis Lake: about 13,589 acres

**Sardis Lake** closes the list by a relatively narrow margin. The reservoir impounds Jackfork Creek in the Kiamichi River basin near Clayton. Its conservation pool supplies water storage while the dam provides flood protection for communities farther downstream.

An [Oklahoma Water Resources Board lake sheet](https://www.owrb.ok.gov/lok/pdf/Sardis.pdf) calculates 13,589 acres at the normal elevation of 599 feet. Earlier project documents often rounded the lake to about 14,360 acres, showing how updated bathymetry and GIS boundaries can revise a familiar figure. Hugo Lake and Tenkiller Ferry Lake fall below Sardis when comparable normal-pool areas are used.