Lakes / South Carolina / Cherokee County / Lake Whelchel
Lake Whelchel, South Carolina
178 acres
Surface Area
Where It Sits, and How Deep It Goes
Locator - South Carolina
35.11 degrees N, 81.63 degrees W - Cherokee 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 Whelchel Stacks Up
- Larger than 87% of the 276 lakes counted in South Carolina.
- The largest lake in Cherokee County among those counted.
- About 20 miles from Spartanburg, as the crow flies.
Lakes Nearby
| Lake | County | Distance | Surface Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watershed Number 18 Reservoir | Cherokee | 5.5 mi | 31 acres |
| Thicketty Creek Watershed Number Twenty Reservoir | Cherokee | 6.6 mi | 46 acres |
| Thicketty Creek WCD Lake Number 26 | Cherokee | 8.8 mi | 104 acres |
| Hammett Lake | Cherokee | 11 mi | 26 acres |
| Lake York | York | 17 mi | 58 acres |
| Jonesville Town Pond | Union | 18 mi | 26 acres |
Straight-line distance between lake centers.
Facts and Figures
Questions About Lake Whelchel
How Big Is Lake Whelchel?
Lake Whelchel covers 178 acres in Cherokee County, South Carolina.
What Is the Largest Lake in Cherokee County?
Lake Whelchel is the largest lake in Cherokee County, at 178 acres.
Largest Lakes in South Carolina
| # | Lake | County | Surface Area | Max Depth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lake Marion | Clarendon | 80,044 acres | - |
| 2 | Lake Moultrie | Berkeley | 56,828 acres | - |
| 3 | Lake Murray | Lexington | 48,761 acres | - |
| 4 | Hartwell Lake | Oconee | 18,037 acres | - |
| 5 | Lake Keowee | Oconee | 16,883 acres | - |
All 276 South Carolina 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 142755379). Verified October 30, 2026.