Michigan Lake Depth Maps

Multibeam surveys from USGS cover Crater Lake, Lake Tahoe and Mono Lake, and reservoir surveys from the Texas Water Development Board and the Bureau of Reclamation cover selected reservoirs. NOAA’s National Bathymetric Source adds measured depths for hundreds of lakes, lagoons and coastal ponds, from Lake Pontchartrain and the St. Johns River lakes to Lake Washington and Lake Pend Oreille; only the surveyed parts are used. NOAA nautical charts add Lake Okeechobee, Lake Champlain, the New York canal lakes and Michigan’s inland and harbour lakes from charted contours and soundings. Minnesota has its own page.

Each lake name below opens the studio framed to that lake’s survey area and generates its terrain. You can also search every surveyed lake or browse other regions.

Largest survey areas

Lake Charlevoix
Portage Lake also Torch Bay, Torch Lake
Mullett Lake also Mullet Lake

Lakes with surveyed depth data

Manistee County

Arcadia Lake Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below Low Water Datum, not a live water level.
Manistee Lake Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below Low Water Datum, not a live water level.

Muskegon County

Bear Lake Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below Low Water Datum, not a live water level.
Muskegon Lake About 74% of the lake is surveyed. NOAA National Bathymetric Source survey cells only; modelled fill is removed and uncovered parts use the basin model. Depths are below the surveys’ chart datum (MLLW on tidal water, low-water datum on the Great Lakes), not a live water level.
White Lake Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below Low Water Datum, not a live water level.

Benzie County

Betsie Lake Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below Low Water Datum, not a live water level.

Macomb County

Black Creek Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below Low Water Datum, not a live water level.

Cheboygan County

Burt Lake Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below Low Water Datum, not a live water level.
Mullett Lake also Mullet Lake Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below Low Water Datum, not a live water level.
Unnamed lake, Cheboygan County About 66% of the lake is surveyed. NOAA National Bathymetric Source survey cells only; modelled fill is removed and uncovered parts use the basin model. Depths are below the surveys’ chart datum (MLLW on tidal water, low-water datum on the Great Lakes), not a live water level.

Keweenaw County

Lac La Belle Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below Low Water Datum, not a live water level.

Charlevoix County

Lake Charlevoix Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below Low Water Datum, not a live water level.

Ottawa County

Lake Macatawa Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below Low Water Datum, not a live water level.
Spring Lake Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below Low Water Datum, not a live water level.
Unnamed lake, Ottawa County 43.031° N, 86.176° W Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below Low Water Datum, not a live water level.
Unnamed lake, Ottawa County 42.902° N, 86.203° W Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below Low Water Datum, not a live water level.
Unnamed lake, Ottawa County 42.796° N, 86.104° W Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below Low Water Datum, not a live water level.
Unnamed lake, Ottawa County 43.069° N, 86.180° W About 69% of the lake is surveyed. NOAA National Bathymetric Source survey cells only; modelled fill is removed and uncovered parts use the basin model. Depths are below the surveys’ chart datum (MLLW on tidal water, low-water datum on the Great Lakes), not a live water level.
Unnamed lake, Ottawa County 43.024° N, 86.133° W About 65% of the lake is surveyed. NOAA National Bathymetric Source survey cells only; modelled fill is removed and uncovered parts use the basin model. Depths are below the surveys’ chart datum (MLLW on tidal water, low-water datum on the Great Lakes), not a live water level.

Luce County

Little Lake Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below Low Water Datum, not a live water level.

Oceana County

Pentwater Lake Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below Low Water Datum, not a live water level.

Mason County

Pere Marquette Lake Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below Low Water Datum, not a live water level.

Houghton County

Portage Lake also Torch Bay, Torch Lake Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below Low Water Datum, not a live water level.

Allegan County

Unnamed lake, Allegan County Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below Low Water Datum, not a live water level.

Emmet County

Unnamed lake, Emmet County 45.414° N, 84.825° W Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below Low Water Datum, not a live water level.
Unnamed lake, Emmet County 45.397° N, 84.766° W Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below Low Water Datum, not a live water level.

St. Clair County

Unnamed lake, St. Clair County Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below Low Water Datum, not a live water level.

Make a lake map from this data

Open a lake from the list. The studio frames its survey area, turns on Water depth and generates the terrain. Widen the frame and regenerate if you want more shoreline.
Check the warnings above the preview. The studio warns when survey coverage is partial or depths are estimated; how lake depths work explains why.
Enter your sheet thickness in Terrain layers; the studio works out the layer count. If a deep lake needs more sheets than you want, Fit depth compresses it while keeping the shoreline. The custom lake map guide walks through the whole build.
Turn on paint templates to spray only the water on each layer, and split the map if it is bigger than your laser bed.
Export the SVG layers. The download’s ATTRIBUTION.txt credits the survey used.

Data source

NOAA National Bathymetric Source: Great Lakes basin lakes: surveyed grid. NOAA Office of Coast Survey National Bathymetric Source; survey sources licensed CC0 1.0 or CC BY 4.0. Only measured survey cells are used; modelled fill removed by TopoStack. Not for navigation.
NOAA nautical charts: Great Lakes basin lakes: survey contours. NOAA Office of Coast Survey electronic navigational charts; public domain. Chart contours and soundings interpolated by TopoStack; not for navigation.

Survey dates and water levels vary between lakes, and a listing can cover only part of a lake. See sources and attribution for credits.