Lake depth maps by region

Most topographic map tools show a lake as a flat hole. With a surveyed lake, TopoStack builds the lake floor from published depth measurements, so each layer of a stacked map follows the real drop-offs, bays and deep holes. That is what makes a lake map recognizable to the people who fish, sail or live on it.

Regions with surveyed lakes

• Minnesota

  2,000 lakes · survey depth contours from Minnesota DNR lake bathymetry.

  Largest survey areas: Big Stone, Mille Lacs, Pepin

• Ontario

  3,396 lakes · survey depth contours from Ontario lake bathymetry.

  Largest survey areas: Lac Seul, Boyle Lake, Lake St. Joseph

• Finland

  1,821 lakes · survey depth contours from Syke Finland lake bathymetry.

  Largest survey areas: Pieni Tuomaanjärvi, Kuolimo, Kyyvesi

• Norway

  521 lakes · survey depth contours from NVE Norway lake bathymetry.

  Largest survey areas: Mjøsa, Randsfjorden, Femunden

• Switzerland and border lakes

  22 lakes · surveyed depth grids from swisstopo swissBATHY3D.

  Largest survey areas: Bodensee, Lac Léman, Lac de Neuchâtel

• Great Lakes

  6 lakes · surveyed depth grids from NOAA NCEI Great Lakes Bathymetry.

  Largest survey areas: Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan

• United States lakes and reservoirs

  381 lakes · surveyed grids and survey contours from USGS Crater Lake multibeam bathymetry, USGS Lake Tahoe multibeam bathymetry, USGS Mono Lake bathymetric model, Texas Water Development Board reservoir surveys, Bureau of Reclamation reservoir surveys, NOAA National Bathymetric Source: Florida lakes, NOAA National Bathymetric Source: Gulf Coast lakes, NOAA National Bathymetric Source: Atlantic Coast lakes, NOAA National Bathymetric Source: Great Lakes basin lakes, NOAA National Bathymetric Source: California lakes, NOAA National Bathymetric Source: Northwest Coast lakes, NOAA National Bathymetric Source: Inland Northwest lakes, NOAA National Bathymetric Source: Alaska lakes, NOAA National Bathymetric Source: Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands lakes, NOAA nautical charts: Florida lakes, NOAA nautical charts: Gulf Coast lakes, NOAA nautical charts: Atlantic Coast lakes, NOAA nautical charts: Great Lakes basin lakes, NOAA nautical charts: New York and Vermont lakes, NOAA nautical charts: California lakes, NOAA nautical charts: Columbia River lakes, NOAA nautical charts: Alaska lakes.

  Largest survey areas: Franklin D Roosevelt Lake, Lake Champlain, Lake Pontchartrain

Surveyed grids and survey contours

A surveyed grid is a continuous lake-floor model, usually from multibeam sonar, and gives the most detailed layers. Survey contours are measured depth lines; TopoStack fills the space between them, which works well at the scale of a laser-cut map. Where a survey covers only part of a lake, the studio uses terrain or modeled depths for the rest and says so. How lake depths work has the details.

From lake to laser

Open any lake from a region page, generate terrain with water depth on, and export SVG cut panels. The custom lake depth map guide walks through framing, depth layers and finishing, and paint templates help you color only the water. Looking for a specific lake? Search the full directory by name, county or survey ID, or see the worked Crater Lake example.