Arbutus Lake
Grand Traverse County, Michigan378 acresView mapDirections
EGLE publishes the water-quality measurements for Arbutus Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Mercury
- Limited data
Arbutus Lake in Grand Traverse County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 17.5 ft visibility. Surface area: 378.3 acres.
Free interactive depth-contour map of Arbutus Lake, reaching a maximum surveyed depth of 44 ft. Toggle Depth contours to overlay the bathymetric survey lines. Contour data from Michigan DNR.
Arbutus Lake is a 378-acre lake in Grand Traverse County, Michigan. Water clarity is improving over recent sampling years. The lake supports 2 documented fish species including Bluegill and Pumpkinseed.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, EGLE, last sampled 2023-09-08. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Arbutus Lake covers about 380 acres in Grand Traverse County. Vrbo is where to look for cabins and lake homes around Arbutus Lake, and Booking.com and Expedia search hotels near the lake for your dates.
What Arbutus Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Clear water17.5 ft of visibility
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Arbutus Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Arbutus Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Arbutus Lake
These are the measurements EGLE publishes for Arbutus Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Crystal clear, you can see 17.5 ft down. TSI 36.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 17.5ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | No reading The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. | |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | No reading The green pigment in algae — a direct measure of how much algae is in the water. | |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 36 | Oligotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Low nutrients, clear water. No reading is a swimming clearance.
Ask about Arbutus Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
378 acres
No bathymetric survey has been published for Arbutus Lake, so its depth is not documented here.
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Arbutus Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Arbutus Lake in Grand Traverse County, Michigan — live availability and prices for your trip. Switch the map to Satellite to see the lake and how close each stay is to the water.
Top-rated places to stay near Arbutus Lake
Prices for Oct 23–25, 4 adults. Change dates on the map below.
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Fish Species
Click a species to see every lake where it is documented.
Fishing Arbutus Lake
Water Quality Trend: Stable
Based on 7 years of monitoring (2016–2023).
Water clarity
Improving7 years
Phosphorus
Stable-0.12 µg/L/yr6 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+0.17 µg/L/yr7 years
EPA Impairment Status
Arbutus Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 4A).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Fish consumption.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit MI040601050506-02 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Grand Traverse County
Frequently asked questions about Arbutus Lake
Where is Arbutus Lake?
- Arbutus Lake is a lake in Grand Traverse County, Michigan. Its water-quality measurements are published by EGLE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Arbutus Lake?
- Arbutus Lake in Grand Traverse County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 17.5 ft visibility. Surface area: 378.3 acres.
Is Arbutus Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Arbutus Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
What fish are in Arbutus Lake?
- Fish species found in Arbutus Lake include Bluegill, Pumpkinseed. Arbutus Lake is located in Grand Traverse County, Michigan.
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Planning a trip around Sleeping Bear Dunes?
Arbutus Lake is about 31 miles from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Crowds there swing hard by season, so the month you pick changes both how busy the park is and what lodging costs.
Best time to visit Sleeping Bear Dunes →More lakes in Michigan
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Where this data comes from
72 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2016–2023. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-26.
Collected and reported by
- Michigan EGLE - MiCorps
21MICH_MICORPS72 samples · 2016–2023
Monitoring station identifiers (1)
EPA condition classes from the National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See where the data comes from and data sources.
Other records on this page
Impairment status from EPA ATTAINS 303(d) database