Which lakes in America are people actually posting about? Not just visiting, but actively photographing, hashtagging, and sharing.
A new study by Captains Preferred Products looked at 100 of America’s largest lakes and ranked them by Instagram hashtag count. The top ten is dominated by the Great Lakes (four of the top five), but there are a couple of entries further down the list that you probably wouldn’t have guessed.
10. Lake of the Ozarks – Missouri
379,990 hashtags
A man-made reservoir in central Missouri with over 1,100 miles of shoreline. For context, that’s longer than the California coast. It’s a major summer destination for Midwest travelers, built around boating, water sports, and lake houses.
9. Crater Lake – Oregon
435,605 hashtags
Crater Lake sits in the caldera of a collapsed volcano in southern Oregon and holds the title of deepest lake in the United States. Its shade of blue is hard to describe until you’ve seen it in person. It’s also the only lake on this list inside a national park.
8. Lake Powell – Arizona & Utah
476,374 hashtags
Lake Powell doesn’t look like anything else on this list. Red sandstone canyon walls carved by the Colorado River, with bright blue water running between them. If you’re drawn to the American Southwest, this is one of the most photogenic corners of it.
7. Lake Huron – Michigan & Ontario
596,556 hashtags
The fifth Great Lake on this list and the third-largest of the group. Lake Huron’s coastline runs across Michigan and Ontario with stretches that feel genuinely remote. It’s less talked about than Tahoe or Superior, but the hashtag numbers say people are paying attention.
6. Lake Norman – North Carolina
721,507 hashtags
Lake Norman is the only entry from the Southeast – no Great Lake, no western canyon backdrop, no volcanic origin story. Just a warm-water lake in North Carolina with a strong boating culture and enough summer energy to outperform several better-known names.
5. Lake Erie – Michigan, New York, Ohio, Ontario & Pennsylvania
1.045 million hashtags
The shallowest of the Great Lakes, but it nearly matches Lake Ontario in hashtag count. The draw most people don’t realize: Lake Erie feeds the Niagara River, which flows directly over Niagara Falls before emptying into Lake Ontario.
4. Lake Ontario – New York & Ontario
1.05 million hashtags
Lake Ontario bridges two countries – New York on one side, Ontario on the other. Toronto’s skyline rising from the waterfront is one of the more photogenic scenes on this list.
3. Lake Superior – Michigan, Minnesota & Wisconsin
1.22 million hashtags
The biggest and deepest of the Great Lakes, with the kind of rugged coastline that feels more like an ocean than a lake. Lake Superior’s 1.22 million hashtags come from a mix of hikers, kayakers, and winter travelers who come for ice fishing and don’t leave disappointed.
2. Lake Michigan – Illinois, Indiana, Michigan & Wisconsin
2.9 million hashtags
Spanning four states, Lake Michigan is a different experience depending on where you visit. Chicago’s skyline on one end, quiet Wisconsin dune beaches on the other.
If you’re exploring the Wisconsin side, Door County makes for a great stop – a beautiful peninsula worth a full weekend.
1. Lake Tahoe – California & Nevada
3.14 million hashtags
Sitting on the California-Nevada border, it’s a lake that photographs well regardless of the season. Clear turquoise water in summer, snow-dusted peaks in winter. Hiking, mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding – there’s always a reason to go, and there’s always something worth shooting.
