There are 16 main lakes in the Lake District National Park, but only one of them is officially called a “lake” by name: Bassenthwaite Lake.

Quick Scoop

  • The Lake District has 16 principal bodies of water that most guides and official tourism sources recognise as its main lakes.
  • Strictly by name, just one of these has “Lake” in the title (Bassenthwaite Lake); the others are called meres or waters, such as Windermere and Ullswater.
  • If you include all glacial lakes, meres, waters, tarns and reservoirs, there are over 80 named bodies of water across the region.

Many people enjoy the classic trick question: “How many lakes are in the Lake District?”
The fun answer is “one” (Bassenthwaite Lake), but the practical visitor answer is “sixteen main lakes and dozens more tarns and waters”.

TL;DR:

  • Officially named “lake”: 1 (Bassenthwaite Lake).
  • Commonly recognised main lakes in the national park: 16.
  • Total wider count of lakes, tarns and waters: 80+.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.