Clear Lake

Largest natural lake wholly within California, USA, in Lake County, 90 km/56 mi north of San Francisco; area 18,200 ha/45,000 ac. A popular resort centre, it is 32 km/20 mi from north-northwest to south-southeast and 1-16 km/1-10 mi wide, and is at an altitude of 412 m/1,350 ft. Its basin has been occupied for 10,000 years, and has more recently been the home (on its islands) of the Pomo, known for their basket weaving. On the southwest rises Mount Konocti (or Konochti), a dormant volcano almost 1,311 m/4,300 ft high. The city of Clearlake in Lake County (population (1990) 11,800), on the southeast of the lake, is the area's commercial centre. Anderson Marsh State Historic Park, just to the south, is a leading California archaeological site. On the northwest of the lake, the city of Lakeport in Lake County (population (1990) 4,400) is a fishing and boating resort.

Clear Lake

City in Cerro Gordo County, northeastern Iowa, USA, on Clear Lake, 16 km/10 mi west of Mason City; population (2000) 8,200.

The town is the site of the Clear Lake fire museum and the Iowa trolley park museum.

Clear Lake

Section of Houston, Texas, USA, 32 km/20 mi southeast of Downtown, along Clear Creek and Clear Lake (an inlet of Galveston Bay). Lying southeast of Ellington Field, a bomber training base established in 1917, the ranchland area was in 1962 annexed and designated the site of NASA's Manned Space Flight Center (renamed the Lyndon B Johnson Space Flight Center in 1973).

The 660 ha/1620 ac facility has since the 1960s spurred the growth of a cluster of residential and research communities. These include Clear Lake City, a planned industrial development that is part of Houston; Clear Lake Shores (to the southeast), a city in Galveston County (population (1990) 1,100); Taylor Lake Village (to the northeast), a city in Harris County (population (1990) 3,400); El Lago (to the east), a city in Harris County (population (1990) 3,300); Nassau Bay (to the south), a city in Harris County (population (1990) 4,300); and Webster (to the southwest), a city in Harris County (population (1990) 4,700). Pasadena lies to the north, and League City to the south. The University of Houston at Clear Lake City (1971) is here.