This a partial list of prehistoric lakes. Although the form of the names below differ, the lists are alphabetized by the identifying name of the lake (e.g., Algonquin for Glacial Lake Algonquin). YBP = Years Before Present.

North America Endorheic basins Estancia Valley, Central New Mexico, United States Lake Estancia, glacial paleolake that once hosted cutthroat trout Plains of San Agustín, Central New Mexico, United States Lake San Agustín, present day site of the Very Large Array Tularosa basin, Southern New Mexico, United States Lake Otero Lake Lucero; Once much larger, the present day lake is an alkali lake and the main source of gypsum for White Sands National Park, the largest gypsum dune field in the world. Great Basin Mono Lake Lee Vining, California.

Atlantic Drainage

St. Lawrence River drainage, i.e., the Great Lakes Champlain Sea; 11,800 – 8,200 YBP on the lower St. Lawrence, from Ottawa River to the Gulf of St. LawrenceWeb animation; University of Wisconsin, Green Bay; 2001Barnett, P.J. 1988. History of the northwestern arm of the Champlain Sea. Pp 25-36 in Gadd, N.R. (ed.) The Late Quaternary Development of the Champlain Sea Basin. Geological Association of Canada, Special Paper 36. Map 5. Lake Ontario basin: 8,400 YBP Early Lake Ontario; 8,700 – 11,800 YBP Lake Admiralty; 10,000 YBPPostglacial chronology and the origin of deep lake basins in Prince Edward County, Ontario. Conference on Great Lakes Research, 1964 - International Association for Great Lakes Research; Terasmae, E Mirynech; 1964 Lake Frontenac; 12,000 – 11,000 YBP"Glacial Lake Outflow via the St. Lawrence Pathway Prior to the Champlain Sea Invasion and During the Younger Dryas"; American Geophysical Union; Occhietti, S.; Anderson, T. W.; Karrow, P. F.; Lewis, M. C.; Mott, R. J.; Parent, M.; Richard, P. J.; Rodrigues, C. G.; Stea, R.; 2005; Retrieved 2009-10-15. covering the Ontario basin and to the northeast up the St. Lawrence Valley covering the low lands north to the Ottawa River and Montreal. Glacial Lake Iroquois; 13,000 – 10,500 YBPGlacial Geology and the Pleistocene Epoch; Richard Foster Flint; 2008-11; Retrieved 2009-09-26. and covered all of the Ontario basin and southward across central New York, reaching to the Finger Lakes. Finger Lakes of New York plus 12 minor lakesGlacial Lakes of Western New York; H.L. Fairchild; Bulletin of the Geological Society of America; Vol. 6, PP, 353-274, Pls. 18-23; Rochester, New York; April 12, 1895 Dansville Lake in the Canaseraga valley Scottsburg Lake in the Conesus valley Naples Lake in the Canandaigua valley Hammondsport Lake in the Keoka valley. Watkins Lake in the Seneca valley Ithaca Lake in the Cayuga valley Lake Erie (8,400 YBP) basin Early Lake Erie; 11,800 – 8,700 YBP in Ohio, Ontario, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New York and located in the Erie basin Lake Lundy; 2,000 YBPThe History of Lake Erie; Michael C. Hansen; Ohio Geology Newsletter; Div of Geological Survey, State of Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; 1989 in Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania, and New York Lake Elkton stage of Lake Lundy @ above sea level Lake Dana stage of Lake Lundy @ above sea level Lake Grasmere stage of Lake Lundy @ above sea level Lake Tonawanda; 10,000 YBPErnest H. Muller (1977), Late Glacial and Early Postglacial Environments in Western New York; Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 288 (1), 223–233. 1977 in western New York Lake Wayne; ended by 12,000 YBP in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, expanding from Lake Warren to cover most of the Erie basin Lake Warren; 12,700 YBP in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, covering southern portion of the basin Lake Whittlesey; 13,000 – 12,700 YBP in Ohio, Ontario, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. It covered the western half of the Erie basin and north over southwest Ontario to the tip of Lake Huron. Lake Arkona; 13,600 – 13,200 YBP in Ohio, Ontario, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Covered two-thirds of the Erie basin, north across southwest Ontario to include the southern tip of Lake Huron, the ‘thumb’ of Michigan and low lands south and west of Saginaw Bay. Lake Maumee; 14,000 – 13,000 YBP in Ohio, Ontario and Michigan. The western basin reaching to Fort Wayne, Indiana. Lake Rouge in Michigan south of Detroit. Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River: Early Lake St. Clair: 12,500 – 5,500 YPB in Lake St. Clair; Michigan and Ontario. Lake Huron basin Later Lake Saginaw in Saginaw Bay on the lower peninsula of Michigan. Nipissing Great Lakes; 5,500Reconstruction Low Lake Levels of Lake Michigan; Timothy Fisher; University of Toledo; Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program; University of Illinois; Urbana, IL; 2006 - 4,500 YBPGeological History of Glacial Lake Algonquin and the Upper Great Lakes; Curtis E. Larsen; U.S. Geological Survey bulletin; 1801; United States Government Printing Office; Washington, D.C.; 1987 Lake Nipissing; 8,400 – 5,500 YBP formed as the water bodies in the Superior and Huron basins merged across Sault Ste. Marie around 8,400 YBP and then merged with the Michigan basin around 7,800. Lake Stanley-Hough; 8,700 YBP, the water levels had risen to connect both Lake Stanley and Lake Hough into a single body of water. Lake Stanley; 9,000 YBP covered only the northern and eastern portion of the main Huron basin with channels into Lake Hough. Lake Hough; 9,000 YBP covered Georgian Bay, Ontario. Glacial Lake Algonquin; 9,000 – 7,000 YBP Lake Stanley; to 10,000 YBP Lake Saginaw; 13,500 YBP 10,300 YBP along the southern shore of Saginaw Bay and the low lands to the southwest. Lake Michigan (1,500 YBP) basin Nipissing Great Lakes: 5,500 - 4,500 YBP Lake Nipissing; 8,400 – 5,500 YBP formed as the water bodies in the Superior and Huron basins merged across Sault Ste. Marie around 8,400 YBP and then merged with the Michigan basin around 7,800. Glacial Lake Algonquin; 9,000 – 7,000 YBP Lake Chippewa; 10,700 – 7,500 YBP, covered the lowest elevations in the Lake Michigan basin forming a linear lake in the middle, linked by a narrow proto-Straits of Mackinac and the Mackinac Falls to Lake Stanley. Lake Chicago; 14,000 – 11,000 YBP along the southern shore and growing slowly northward. Lake Superior basin Precursor Lakes, before the formation of basin wide bodies of water.Professional Paper 154—A, Moriaines and Shore Lines of Lake Superior Basin: Frank Leverett; United States Government Printing Office, Washington; February 9, 1929; (Pages 1-72) Lake Ashland Lake Brule Lake Nemadji Lake Ontonagon Lake St. Louis Nipissing Great Lakes: 8,400 – 5,500 YBP formed as the water bodies in the Superior and Huron basins merged across Sault Ste. Marie around 8,400 YBP and then merged with the Michigan basin around 7,800.; - 5,500; - 4,500 YBP Lake Houghton; 8,700 – 8,000 YBP covered the Superior basin in Ontario, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Fenton Lake; 9,500 YBP occupied a shallow basin in the eastern side of Lake Superior after Lake Minong had shrunk below rock sills internal to the lake basin.A late Lake Minong transgression in the Lake Superior bain as documented by sediments from Fenton Lake, Ontario; Andy Breckenridge, Thomas V. Lowell, Timothy G. Fisher, Shiyong Yu; Springer Science +Business Media B.V.; 2010 Lake Minong; 10,300 – 9,800 YBP "Post-Valders Lake Stages in the Lake Superior Basin", in Glacial and Postglacial Geologic History of Isle Royale National Park, Michigan by N. King Huber, USGS Geological Survey Professional Paper 754-A covering most of the modern Superior basin. Post-Duluth Lake; 10,600 YBP along the Wisconsin and Michigan shore, reaching less than halfway across the basin. Lake Duluth; 11,500 – 11,000 YBP in the western half of the Superior basin. Glacial Lake St. Louis occupied St. Louis Bay at the southern tip of modern Lake Superior. Lake Keweenaw; 12,500 – 12,000 YBP in the western Superior basin. Atlantic Ocean Lake Albany in the valley of the Hudson River. Glacial Lake Block Island off the south coast of Rhode Island, west of Block Island. Glacial Lake Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Lake Colebrook on the border of Vermont and New Hampshire, crossing into Quebec. Lake Coos on the border of Vermont and New Hampshire. Lake Connecticut; 20,000 – 18,000 YBP, covered Long Island Sound.U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 02-002; Geological Framework Data from Long Island Sound, 1981-1990: A Digital Data Release; CERC Technical Report 81-3; Sand Resources and Geological Character of Long Island Sound; S. Jeffress Williams; 1981 Glacial Lake Hitchcock; 15,000 YBP in the valley of the Connecticut River. Glacial Lake Nantucket Sound in Massachusetts. Glacial Lake Narragansett covered Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island. Lake Merrimack in New Hampshire in the Merrimack River valley Lake Passaic; 19,000 – 14,000 YBP in New Jersey Glacial Lake Rhode Island off the south coast of Rhode Island, east of Block Island Lake Sciota; in the eastern Poconos Pennsylvania. Lake Stowe; 15,000 YBP in central Vermont. Lake Vermont in Vermont, New York states, and the province of Quebec. Lake Winooski in Vermont. Lubbock Lake in Texas (see Lubbock Lake Landmark)

Via the Gulf of Mexico Mississippi River basin Glacial Lake Calvin in southeast Iowa Illinois River basin Lake Baroda in Michigan on the lower St. Joseph River.Using The Fluvial-Lacustrine Interface In A Glaciodeltaic Deposit To Redefine The Valparaiso Moraine, Berrien County, Michigan, USA Kincare, K.A., Michigan Geological Survey Stone, B.D., and Newell, W.L., U.S. Geological Survey; 7thInternational Conference on Fluvial Sedimentology –Lincoln, Nebraska; ca 2000 Lake Dowagiac in Michigan on the lower Dowagiac River, now a branch of the St. Joseph River which now flows into Lake Michigan. Lake Madron in Michigan at the junction of the St. Joseph River and the Dowagiac River. Lake Kankakee; 13,600 – 13,200 YBPDunes of Northwestern Indiana; Edward Barrett; Forty First Annual Report of Department of Geology and Natural Resources, Indiana; pg 11-22; Fort Wayne Printing Company; 1916 Glacial Lake Ottawa in Illinois on the upper Illinois River.Earth Science Field Trip, Guide Leaflet, Kankakee Area, May 18, 1957; John C. Frye; State Geological Survey; Urbana, Illinois;l 1957 Glacial Lake Pontiac in Illinois on the lower Vermillion River. Glacial Lake Wauponsee in Illinois at the headwaters of the Illinois River. Lake Watseka in Illinois on the Iroquois River. Ohio River basin Lake Monongahela, along the Allegheny, Monongahela and upper Ohio Rivers. Glacial Lake Tight, named for William G. Tight along the Ohio and West Virginia border. Upper Mississippi River basin Lake Upham north of Duluth, Minnesota.Waters, Thomas F. (1977). The Streams and Rivers of Minnesota. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press Lake Aitkin along the Mississippi River near Grand Rapids, Minnesota.Ojakangas, Richard W.; Matsch, Charles L (1982). Minnesota's Geology. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Lake Minnesota at the great bend in the Minnesota River at Mankato, Minnesota Glacial Lake Baraboo, communicating with Glacial Lake Wisconsin here Glacial Lake Grantsburg, draining through the St. Croix River, Lake Oshkosh; 13,600 - YBP. on the central Wisconsin River. Glacial Lake Wisconsin; 18,000 – 14,000 YBP in Wisconsin along the Wisconsin River.Dott, Robert H., Jr; John W. Attig (2004). Roadside Geology of Wisconsin. Missoula, Montana: Mountain Press Publishing Company. pp. 199-205. Missouri River basin Glacial Lake Great Falls; 17,000 – 13,000 YBPMontagne J.L. "Quaternary System, Wisconsin Glaciation." Geologic Atlas of the Rocky Mountain Region. Denver: Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists, 1972. in MontanaPleistocene Glaciation and Diversion of the Missouri River in Northern Montana; William Moak, Department of Geography and Geology, University of Nebraska at Omaha; Omaha, Nebraska; ca, 1991 near Great Falls, Montana. Lake Cut Bank in Montana on the Marias River near Cut Bank.