Clear Lake (California)

Clear Lake (Pomo: Lypoyomi)[2][3] is a natural freshwater lake in Lake County in the U.S. state of California, north of Napa County and San Francisco. It is the largest natural freshwater lake wholly within the state, with 68 square miles (180 km²) of surface area. At an age of 0.5 million years, it is the oldest lake in North America.[4][5] It is the latest lake to occupy a site with a history of lakes stretching back at least 2,500,000 years.[6]

Quick facts: Clear Lake, Location, Coordinates, Lake type,... ▼

Clear Lake
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Location	Lake County, California
Coordinates	39.0616°N 122.8272°W / 39.0616; -122.8272
Lake type	Eutrophic/hypereutrophic
Primary inflows	Scotts Creek Middle Creek Forbes Creek Morrison Creek Seigler Canyon Creek Shindler Creek Kelsey Creek Adobe Creek Manning Creek
Primary outflows	Cache Creek
Basin countries	United States
Max. length	19 mi (31 km)
Max. width	8 mi (13 km)
Surface area	68 sq mi (180 km2)
Average depth	27 ft (8.2 m)
Max. depth	60 ft (18 m)
Water volume	1,155,000 acre⋅ft (1,425,000 dam3)
Shore length1	100 mi (160 km)
Surface elevation	1,329 ft (405 m)
Islands	Anderson Island Fruit Island Garner Island Indian Island Rattlesnake Island Slater Island Stubbs Island Tule Island Weekend Island
Settlements	Clearlake, California Clearlake Oaks, California Finley, California Glenhaven, California Kelseyville, California Lakeport, California Lower Lake, California Lucerne, California Middletown, California Nice, California Upper Lake, California
References	[1]
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Clear Lake supports large populations of largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill, carp and catfish.[6] Two-thirds of the fish caught in Clear Lake are largemouth bass, with a record of 17.52 pounds (7.95 kg).[6] In addition to fish, there is abundant wildlife within the Clear Lake basin.[6] There are year-round populations of ducks, pelicans, grebes, blue herons, egrets, osprey, and bald eagles,[6] and the basin supports sizable populations of deer, bear, mountain lion, raccoon and other animals.[6]

The expansive, warm water of Clear Lake makes it popular for watersports, such as swimming, water skiing, wakeboarding, sailing, boat races, and jet skiing.