Lake or Pond?

[fishwrong]

Same as the difference between a creek and river.

In my world, if it's named on a map it's a lake, if not it's a pond. Unless the map calls it a pond, in which case it's a pond. Unless it's named in some specific literature or study, at which point it's back to a lake. Unless it's my nine year old daughter playing "Let's make Daddy wrong" in which case it's the opposite of whatever my answer is.

Never thought the name mattered much, but then again "Walden's Mudhole" probably wouldn't have the same ring. I think I'm getting cabin fever already.....

[rlown]

If you meant "Walden's Pond", Its 108 ft deep. And, we're all getting cabin fever.. So I hunt waterfowl during the off season.

[Wandering Daisy]

There are plenty of large lakes not named on the map. For example, take a look at the upper Kern. All the lakes south of Forrester Pass and those in the headwaters southwest of Lake South America - none named, yet large lakes, and many with BIG fish! So it is not a map name that makes a lake.

Interesting that in the Wind Rivers a majority of the lakes are not named on maps. To avoid the awkward wordy statements such as, "the large lake 1.2 miles southwest of Lake 10,002", I ended up making up my own names to those that had no USGS names, no USGS elevations, no G&F names, and no locally known names.

[rayfound]

This is a question that like so many others, just don't have simple answers. We humans like to draw rigid borders around things and the reality is that nature is fuzzy. It is much like asking where Europe ends and Asia begins, or what distinguishes two closely related subspecies within an environment, or what is a mountain instead of a hill, or the indian ocean vs the south pacific, or eccentric vs crazy... you can make some definitions, but it will be at its most simple when arbitrary and meaningless. Nature is fuzzy.