Lakes / California / San Francisco County / Lake Merced
Lake Merced, San Francisco County, California
92 acres
Surface Area
Where It Sits, and How Deep It Goes
Locator - California
37.73 degrees N, 122.49 degrees W - San Francisco 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 Lake Merced Stacks Up
- Larger than 53% of the 1,147 lakes counted in California.
- About 5 miles from San Francisco, as the crow flies.
Lakes Nearby
| Lake | County | Distance | Surface Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Merced | San Francisco | 0.6 mi | 208 acres |
| Sunset Reservoir | San Francisco | 1.7 mi | 25 acres |
| San Andreas Lake | San Mateo | 9.8 mi | 486 acres |
| Pilarcitos Lake | San Mateo | 13 mi | 89 acres |
| Lake Merritt | Alameda | 14 mi | 152 acres |
| Lower Crystal Springs Reservoir | San Mateo | 15 mi | 586 acres |
Straight-line distance between lake centers.
Facts and Figures
Questions About Lake Merced
How Big Is Lake Merced?
Lake Merced covers 92 acres in San Francisco County, California.
What Is the Largest Lake in San Francisco County?
Lake Merced is the largest lake in San Francisco County, at 208 acres.
Largest Lakes in California
| # | Lake | County | Surface Area | Max Depth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salton Sea | Imperial | 233,096 acres | - |
| 2 | Lake Tahoe | Placer | 122,975 acres | - |
| 3 | Goose Lake | Modoc | 93,048 acres | - |
| 4 | Honey Lake | Lassen | 59,917 acres | - |
| 5 | Mono Lake | Mono | 45,124 acres | - |
All 1,147 California lakes ranked by surface area
Sources: USGS NHD (The National Map NHD MapServer layer 12) named waterbodies FTYPE 390/436; counties via Census point-in-polygon lake data (ID 120028664). Verified October 30, 2026.