Lake Pontchartrain

Lake Pontchartrain lies in southeastern Louisiana in six parishes: Jefferson, Orleans, St. Tammany, St. John the Baptist, St. Charles, and Tangipahoa. The New Orleans metroplex encompasses most of Lake Pontchartrain’s southern border. The area on its northern border is known as Northshore. Lake Pontchartrain lies in part of the Pontchartrain Basin, a 4,700 square mile watershed in southeast Louisiana and southern Mississippi. Lake Pontchartrain covers 630 square miles with an average depth of 12 feet, but the depth ranges from ten to 16 feet. It is 40 miles wide east to west and 24 miles wide from north to south. Lake Pontchartrain is an estuary and not a lake with brackish water.  More Lake Information