Lakes of Nidwalden 2026: 4 lakes, three above 1,500 m
Nidwalden lies on Lake Lucerne and owns more than a quarter of it. Its own lakes, though, are up high: the Trübsee, Lutersee and Bannalpsee all lie above 1,500 m.
Number of lakes in Nidwalden: 4
4 lakes of half a hectare or more, and yet the national map shows 40 bodies of standing water in Nidwalden. The gap is not imprecision; it is a way of counting.
- 140 water surfaces appear in swisstopo's landscape model for the canton.
- 25 of them are at least half a hectare (5,000 m²).
- 35 carry an official name, however small.
- 44 are both, named and at least 0.5 ha. That is what we count as a lake.
Anyone reading a different figure has almost always drawn a different line: count every water surface and Nidwalden has 40; count only lakes over one square kilometre and you get 1. Even a plain name such as "Weiher" counts as official: what decides is the entry in the swissNAMES3D gazetteer. Our count states where the line is, so it can be checked.
Lake Finder: find any lake in Nidwalden
Every officially named lake in Switzerland with area, elevation and canton. Filter by elevation and canton, search in all national languages.
- Municipalities: Weggis · Gersau · Ennetbürgen · Beckenried · Luzern · Stansstad · Horw · Meggen · Seedorf (UR) · Seelisberg · Emmetten · Sisikon · Flüelen · Ingenbohl · Vitznau · Morschach · Alpnach · Hergiswil (NW) · Buochs · Greppen · Küssnacht (SZ) · Ennetmoos · IsenthalOfficial names: Lac des Quatre-Cantons · Lago dei Quattro Cantoni · Lai dals Quatter ChantunsArea by canton: Lucerne 36% · Nidwalden 30% · Uri 17% · Schwyz 15% · Obwalden 2%
Source: swissTLM3D, swissNAMES3D, swissBOUNDARIES3D (© swisstopo, 2026 edition). Area = entire water surface, including the foreign part for border lakes. Elevation = water level in the landscape model. Analysis by ConvivaPlus.
Largest lake in Nidwalden: Trübsee
The largest lake touching Nidwalden is the Vierwaldstättersee (113.9 km²), but only 30% of its surface lies in the canton. The largest lake belonging entirely to the canton is the Trübsee: 27 ha at 1764 m.
| Lake | Area | Elevation | Share in canton |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vierwaldstättersee | 113.9 km² | 434 m | 30% |
| Trübsee | 27 ha | 1764 m | 100% |
| Bannalpsee | 16 ha | 1587 m | 100% |
| Lutersee | 1.4 ha | 1703 m | 100% |
Highest lake in Nidwalden: Trübsee
Even the highest lake in Nidwalden lies lower than 56% of Swiss lakes: the Trübsee in Wolfenschiessen at 1764 m, 27 ha.
The canton's lowest-lying lake is the Vierwaldstättersee at 434 m. The canton's median lake sits at 1645 m. Elevation is the water level in the landscape model; for reservoirs it varies with how full they are. 1 of the 4 lakes in the canton has a dam or embankment (structures in swissTLM3D): Bannalpsee.
Shared lakes: which lakes Nidwalden shares
99% of the lake surface in Nidwalden lies in lakes it does not own alone. Nidwalden shares 1 of its 4 lakes with other cantons; the table shows how much of each lies in the canton.
List of lakes in Nidwalden
The list shows all 5 officially named bodies of water in the canton, by area. The 4 lakes of half a hectare or more come first; smaller ponds are marked.
- 1.Vierwaldstättersee · 23 municipalities113.9 km²434 m
- 2.Trübsee · Wolfenschiessen27 ha1764 m
- 3.Bannalpsee · Wolfenschiessen16 ha1587 m
- 4.Lutersee · Wolfenschiessen1.4 ha1703 m
- 5.Jochseeli · Wolfenschiessen, Innertkirchen0.20 ha2204 m
Lakes by size: 3 larger than 10 ha
3 of the 4 lakes in Nidwalden are larger than ten hectares, or 75%. Across Switzerland the share is 20%. By the number of lakes over 10 ha, Nidwalden ranks 16 of the 26 cantons.
Only one lake measures less than five hectares.
In Nidwalden, one water surface in 10 on the national map is a lake; across Switzerland, only one in 20.
Lakes by municipality: Wolfenschiessen has the most
The municipality with the most lakes is not on the canton's largest lake (Vierwaldstättersee): Wolfenschiessen, with 3 lakes, all above 1500 m. Counted are lakes lying entirely within the canton and in no more than two municipalities; a large lake belongs to many. The Lake Finder can search by municipality.
- Wolfenschiessen3Trübsee · Bannalpsee · Lutersee
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❓ Frequently asked questions about the lakes of Nidwalden
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891 lakes of half a hectare or more, 4 of them in Nidwalden, number 20 among the 26 cantons by count of lakes. Grisons has the most, with 236.
29 lakes of 0.5 ha or more; the largest entirely within the canton is Göscheneralpsee, 1.29 km².
Residents, taxes, rents, wages and events: Nidwalden in figures.
More lake pages
ConvivaPlus Editor · Data & Switzerland
Writes about Switzerland in figures – official data recalculated, counting method explained.
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Source: swisstopo (swissTLM3D, swissNAMES3D, swissBOUNDARIES3D, 2026 edition), analysis by ConvivaPlus. Switzerland as a whole: 891 lakes out of 17'873 water surfaces; parts with the same name no more than 50 m apart count as one lake. Area = water surface at the shoreline of the landscape model; reference works using a different shoreline or water level sometimes give other values.
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