Lake Hayes is a small lake in the Wakatipu Basin in Central Otago, in New Zealand's South Island. It is located close to the towns of Arrowtown and Queenstown. The southern end of the lake is close to State Highway 6, while the western side is bordered by Slope Hill.
Settlers originally knew the lake as Hays Lake after Donald Hay, a Scottish surveyor who came to the district looking for sheep country in 1859. Its name gradually changed to Lake Hayes, as its discovery was credited erroneously to Captain "Bully" Hayes, an early local character of the district.