Lakes / California / Nevada County / Lake Sterling
Lake Sterling, California
104 acres
Surface Area
Where It Sits, and How Deep It Goes
Locator - California
39.36 degrees N, 120.49 degrees W - Nevada 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 Sterling Stacks Up
- Larger than 55% of the 1,147 lakes counted in California.
- About 76 miles from Sacramento, as the crow flies.
Lakes Nearby
| Lake | County | Distance | Surface Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fordyce Lake | Nevada | 2.2 mi | 696 acres |
| Meadow Lake | Nevada | 4.0 mi | 234 acres |
| Kidd Lake | Placer | 4.5 mi | 82 acres |
| Cascade Lakes | Placer | 4.8 mi | 109 acres |
| French Lake | Nevada | 4.9 mi | 347 acres |
| Palisade Lake | Placer | 5.6 mi | 46 acres |
Straight-line distance between lake centers.
Facts and Figures
Questions About Lake Sterling
How Big Is Lake Sterling?
Lake Sterling covers 104 acres in Nevada County, California.
What Is the Largest Lake in Nevada County?
Boca Reservoir is the largest lake in Nevada County, at 964 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 44605440). Verified October 30, 2026.