There are at least 2340 named lakes and reservoirs in Arkansas. The following list contains lists of lakes and reservoirs in Arkansas by county. Swimming, fishing, and/or boating are permitted in some of Arkansas’s lakes, but not all.

A lake is a terrain feature (or physical feature), a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin (another type of landform or terrain feature; that is not global). Another definition is a body of fresh or salt water of considerable size that is surrounded by land. On Earth a body of water is considered a lake when it is inland, not part of the ocean, is larger and deeper than a pond.[1][2]

A reservoir (etymology from French réservoir a "storehouse [3]) is an artificial lake used to store water. Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such a brickwork or cast concrete.

Major lakes/reservoirs

Lake/reservoir Region Acreage Hectares
Lake Ouachita Southwest 66,324[4] 26,840
Bull Shoals Lake Northwest 45,440 18,390
Lake Dardanelle Northwest 34,300 13,900
Greers Ferry Lake Northwest 31,500 12,700
Millwood Lake Southwest 29,200 11,800
Beaver Lake Northwest 28,220 11,420
Norfork Lake Northeast 22,000 8,900
Lake Jack Lee Southeast 15,000 6,100
DeGray Lake Southwest 13,400 5,400
Ozark Lake Northwest 10,600 4,300
Lake Maumelle Central 8,900 3,600
Lake Hamilton Southwest 7,460 3,020
Lake Erling Southwest 7,000 2,800
Lake Conway Central 6,700 2,700
Lake Chicot Southeast 5,300 2,100
Arkansas shares Bull Shoals Lake with Missouri.
Lake Ouachita
Beaver Lake
Lake Jack Lee is located in the Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge.

List of lakes by county

References

  1. ^ Britannica online. "Lake (physical feature)". Retrieved 2012-03-21. [a Lake is] any relatively large body of slowly moving or standing water that occupies an inland basin of appreciable size. Definitions that precisely distinguish lakes, ponds, swamps, and even rivers and other bodies of nonoceanic water are not well established. It may be said, however, that rivers and streams are relatively fast moving; marshes and swamps contain relatively large quantities of grasses, trees or shrubs; and ponds are relatively small in comparison to lakes. Geologically defined, lakes are temporary bodies of water.
  2. ^ "Dictionary.com definition". Retrieved 2012-03-12. a body of fresh or salt water of considerable size, surrounded by land.
  3. ^ "Reservoir". Online Etymology Dictionary.
  4. ^ "Lake Ouachita - Largest Lake In Arkansas". November 27, 2018.
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