Lakes / North Carolina / Graham County / Fontana Lake
Fontana Lake, North Carolina
9,478.42 acres
Surface Area
Where It Sits, and How Deep It Goes
Locator - North Carolina
35.43 degrees N, 83.65 degrees W - Graham County. State and county outlines drawn from Census boundary data; the lake marker is placed by its USGS National Hydrography Dataset coordinates, not by eye. Schematic - not a survey map.
How Fontana Lake Stacks Up
- Ranks #7 for surface area among the North Carolina lakes counted so far - 9,478.42 acres.
- The largest lake in Graham County among those counted.
- About 63 miles from Asheville, as the crow flies.
Lakes Nearby
| Lake | County | Distance | Surface Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santeetlah Lake | Graham | 13 mi | 2,638.1 acres |
| Nantahala Lake | Macon | 17 mi | 1,380.58 acres |
| Lake Emory | Macon | 22 mi | 83.03 acres |
| Chatuge Lake | Clay | 31 mi | 6,364.45 acres |
| Lake Glenville | Jackson | 34 mi | 1,389.72 acres |
| Cedar Cliff Lake | Jackson | 34 mi | 107.99 acres |
Straight-line distance between lake centers.
Facts and Figures
Largest Lakes in North Carolina
| # | Lake | County | Surface Area | Max Depth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lake Norman | Iredell | 30,797.52 acres | - |
| 2 | Lake Mattamuskeet | Hyde | 26,110.39 acres | - |
| 3 | Lake Gaston | Warren | 18,986.78 acres | - |
| 4 | Phelps Lake | Washington | 15,941.02 acres | - |
| 5 | B Everett Jordan Lake | Chatham | 13,118.99 acres | - |
All 295 North Carolina lakes ranked by surface area
Sources: USGS National Hydrography Dataset (The National Map) lake data (ID 120024036). Verified October 30, 2026.