This is one of those questions that sounds like it should have a simple answer. It doesn’t.
Ask ten people what the difference is between a pond and a lake, and you’ll probably get twelve answers—and at least one of them will involve a fishing story.
Perhaps one of the most famous descriptions of a pond was written by Henry David Thoreau when he described Walden Pond in his 1854 literary masterpiece, Walden; or, Life in the Woods:
“It is a clear and deep green well, half a mile long and a mile and three-quarters in circumference, and contains about sixty-one and a half acres; a perennial spring in the midst of pine and oak woods, without any visible inlet or outlet except by the clouds and evaporation.”
That’s a pretty impressive description of a pond. And therein lies the problem.
Thoreau’s description of Walden Pond—and its idyllic surroundings, clear water, and relatively substantial size—may have helped fuel a debate that continues to this very day:
What, exactly, makes a pond a pond and a lake a lake?
Surely There Must Be a Rule
A pond and lake manager I know once told me, "a pond is a body of water with no creek or river flowing into it." That sounds reasonable. Then again, so do a lot of things until you start looking at actual ponds and lakes.
A realtor friend of mine has my favorite definition: “a lake is what you have when you’re selling property with a pond on it!” I laughed out loud because, well… he may have a point.
When LakeMapper's founder, Paul Langhorst, thinks of a “pond, he said, "I think of the small clay pit I encountered as a young boy on my Uncle Rich’s farm in Gerald, MO. We could skip rocks across it and catch tadpoles and stunted bluegill. It was black as coal; as kids we thought it was a mile deep - turned out it was less than six feet!"
When I think of a lake, I think of something much larger—motorized fishing boats, pontoon boats, jet skis, waterfront homes and docks, and somebody yelling no wake!
Growing up in Missouri, we made plenty of trips to Lake of the Ozarks, Table Rock Lake, and other large reservoirs throughout the state. So, at least in my mind, size and what happens on the water have a lot to do with whether we call something a pond or a lake.
The Official-Sounding Definitions
According to commonly cited definitions, a pond is typically:
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Smaller than about 10 acres
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Shallower than a lake
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Less affected by wind-driven waves
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Less likely to have distinct temperature layers, or thermal stratification
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Home to somewhat less variety of aquatic life
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May or may not have a dam
Sounds pretty definitive, right? Not so fast.
Island Pond in Derry, New Hampshire, is roughly 500 acres. And our friend Thoreau’s Walden Pond was more than 60 acres. In fact, the New England states are filled with huge ponds that the remainder of the U.S. would classify as “lakes!”
There are plenty of ponds that stratify, and large ponds that experience significant wind and wave action.
In other words, if these are the rules, there seem to be quite a few ponds that forgot to read the rulebook.
Maybe the Dam Holds the Answer
The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines a pond as a water impoundment created by constructing an embankment, excavating a dugout, or using a combination of the two.
Aha! Maybe we finally have our answer.
Perhaps a pond has an earthen dam, while a lake is held back by a concrete dam.
Case closed. Except… not really. There are plenty of water bodies with concrete dams that still have the word “pond” in their name.
Apparently, even concrete couldn't firm up the argument.
What Does LakeMapper Consider a Pond vs Lake?
Here at LakeMapper, just for convenience and to help filter and organize the over 4 million water bodies we have digitized, we label water bodies under 10 acres a "Pond," and water bodies between 10 and 200 acres a "Lake," with lakes between 200-2000 acres labeled an "XL Lake" (we need a better name for that category!) and lakes over 2000 acres labeled "Reservoirs."
So… What Is the Difference?
The answer may be surprisingly simple: There isn't a universally accepted answer.
“Pond” and “lake” are often determined by local custom, history, geography, and—perhaps most importantly—what the person who named it happened to think at the time.
Someone, somewhere, eventually looked at a body of water and said, “Let’s call this a lake.” Or, perhaps they said, “Pond sounds better.”
And that was that. The name stuck.
So if you own a body of water, feel free to call it whatever you like. If you want to call your 5-acre pond a lake, go ahead.
If you have a 500-acre lake and prefer to call it a pond, that's your business. And if you're selling waterfront property, by all means, call it a lake.
If you want to use LakeMapper's arbitrary size definitions, please feel free to do so!
Just don't expect Thoreau, the USDA, your realtor, and your neighbor to agree on what it is.
After all, whether it’s a pond or a lake, the water probably doesn't care what we call it. Just enjoy it and be a good manager of the property and aquatic life it holds.
Our mission at LakeMapper is to help connect lake/pond focussed businesses find and connect with lake property owners so that owners are presented with quality solutions to help them enjoy their ponds, I mean lakes! I give up!