Lakes / Iowa / Lakes Near Des Moines

Lakes Near Des Moines, Iowa

47 counted Iowa lakes sit within 60 miles of Des Moines - the largest is Rathbun Lake at 13,869 acres. Distances are straight-line from the city center.

Lake	County	Distance	Surface Area	Max Depth
Rathbun Lake	Appanoose	59 mi	13,869 acres	-
Lake Red Rock	Marion	32 mi	8,619 acres	-
Saylorville Lake	Polk	13 mi	5,428 acres	-
Lake Panorama	Guthrie	42 mi	1,179 acres	-
Big Creek Lake	Polk	17 mi	856 acres	-
Three Mile Lake	Union	46 mi	836 acres	-
Twelve Mile Lake	Union	49 mi	644 acres	-
Rock Creek Lake	Jasper	42 mi	515 acres	-
Sun Valley Lake	Ringgold	56 mi	398 acres	-
Green Valley Lake	Union	52 mi	330 acres	-
West Lake	Clarke	39 mi	287 acres	-
Little Wall Lake	Hamilton	47 mi	245 acres	-
Bays Branch Lake	Guthrie	37 mi	192 acres	-
Dale Maffit Reservoir	Dallas	10 mi	187 acres	-
Lake Easter	Polk	5 mi	177 acres	-
Lake Ponderosa	Poweshiek	54 mi	168 acres	-
Lake Colechester	Warren	7 mi	153 acres	-
Don Williams Lake	Boone	42 mi	142 acres	-
Lake Morris	Lucas	44 mi	129 acres	-
Lake Miami	Monroe	52 mi	121 acres	-
Lake Ahquabi	Warren	21 mi	112 acres	-
Lake Ponderosa	Poweshiek	54 mi	111 acres	-
Union Grove Lake	Tama	60 mi	106 acres	-
Summit Lake	Union	54 mi	105 acres	-
Hendrickson Marsh Lake	Story	31 mi	99 acres	-
Diamondhead Lake	Dallas	33 mi	96 acres	-
Grays Lake	Polk	1 mi	96 acres	-
Diamond Lake	Poweshiek	55 mi	90 acres	-
Lake Keomah	Mahaska	60 mi	90 acres	-
Cedar Lake	Madison	25 mi	84 acres	-
Goose Lake	Hamilton	50 mi	79 acres	-
Hickory Grove Lake	Story	31 mi	79 acres	-
Red Haw Lake	Lucas	45 mi	79 acres	-
Lake Ellis	Lucas	44 mi	77 acres	-
West Lake	Lucas	42 mi	69 acres	-
Brenton Slough	Polk	13 mi	62 acres	-
Spring Lake	Greene	47 mi	49 acres	-
Goose Lake	Greene	54 mi	45 acres	-
Crab Tree Lake	Marshall	29 mi	43 acres	-
Corydon Lake	Wayne	60 mi	41 acres	-
Humeston Reservoir	Wayne	49 mi	37 acres	-
Meadow Lake	Adair	44 mi	36 acres	-
Sportsman Lake	Tama	57 mi	33 acres	-
Cherry Lake	Tama	59 mi	30 acres	-
Greenfield Lake	Adair	49 mi	27 acres	-
Nodaway Lake	Adair	50 mi	26 acres	-
Grade Lake	Clarke	40 mi	25 acres	-

Sources: USGS National Hydrography Dataset lake data; lake coordinates from the USGS NHD. Verified October 30, 2026.