The Great Lakes are the largest lakes in the US, followed by the Great Salt Lake. Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area and is the deepest point in the continental US. Lakes Michigan and Huron are technically one lake, but Superior is larger in volume. The Great Salt Lake is a terminal lake with high salinity and can cause lake-effect snow.
The largest lakes in the United States are often known as the Great Lakes and are, in descending order, Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario. These bodies of water are clustered fairly close together in the west-central United States, although some of these larger lakes in the United States are partly in the country of Canada. After the Great Lakes, the Great Salt Lake near Salt Lake City, Utah is the second largest lake. For clarification, a lake is described as a large body of fresh water that is surrounded by land on all sides; the body of water is usually still or nearly still.
By surface area, Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world, although it is third largest by volume. At its deepest point, this lake is 733 feet (223 meters) below sea level, making it the deepest point in the continental United States. Islands exist within Lake Superior, and those islands often have lakes of their own, with islands within those lakes. Host to many important shipping lanes and lake freighters can often be seen on this waterway.
Oddly enough, a dispute has arisen over the order of the largest lakes in the United States, since Lakes Michigan and Huron are technically one lake. The two bodies of water are connected by the Strait of Mackinac, which technically makes the pair larger in surface area than Lake Superior. Superior is only considered the largest lake if Michigan and Huron are considered independent lakes rather than one large body of water. By volume, the two lakes combined are still the fourth largest in the world; Superior is larger in volume.
Of the largest lakes in the United States, Great Salt Lake is perhaps one of the most interesting. This terminal lake – a lake that does not train into any tributaries or other bodies of water – has exceptionally high salinity, or salt content. It’s saltier than ocean waters, in fact, and is sometimes called America’s Dead Sea. The surface area of the Great Salt Lake can vary, and the depth generally remains fairly shallow consistently. The water also tends to stay warm, which can cause lake-effect snow. Major snowstorms have been known to dump large amounts of snow all at once due to air circulation above the lake.
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