Barton Lake
Kalamazoo County, Michigan335 acresView mapDirections
EGLE publishes the water-quality measurements for Barton Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Mercury
- 44 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Barton Lake in Kalamazoo County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 8 ft visibility. Surface area: 335.3 acres.
Barton Lake is a 335-acre lake in Kalamazoo County, Michigan with an estimated average depth of about 44 feet. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, EGLE, last sampled 2023-06-21. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Barton Lake covers about 340 acres in Kalamazoo County. It has one public boat landing. If you are planning to stay, you can search lake houses and cabins around Barton Lake on Vrbo, or look for a hotel room near the lake on Booking.com or Expedia.
What Barton Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Barton Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury, pCBs. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Barton 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 Barton Lake
These are the measurements EGLE publishes for Barton Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Moderate clarity, visible to about 8 ft. TSI 47.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 8ft | 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. | 47 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Barton Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~44 ft est.
Surface area
335 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by EGLE
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Michigan has not published bathymetry for Barton Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
80 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
4.4 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
823 ft
Size, shoreline, and watershed area from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS). Mean depth here is modelled, not surveyed — HydroLAKES v1.0 estimates lake depth from surrounding terrain rather than from soundings. Treat it as an approximation, and prefer a state bathymetric survey where one exists.
Recreation & Access
- Barton LakePublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Barton Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Barton Lake in Kalamazoo 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 Barton Lake
Prices for Oct 23–25, 4 adults. Change dates on the map below.
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Fishing Barton Lake
Water Quality Trend: Stable
Based on 7 years of monitoring (2016–2023).
Water clarity
Stable7 years
EPA Impairment Status
Barton Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Fish consumption.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit MI040500010503-02 · Official waterbody report
Regulated Pollution Sources Nearby
2 EPA-permitted facilities operate within about 5 miles of Barton Lake under Clean Water Act (NPDES) discharge permits.
- Mdeq-Rrd-Arco Ind CorpSchoolcraft · 3.1 mi away · NPDES MI0048551
- J Rettenmaier Usa LpSchoolcraft · 4 mi away · NPDES MI0056791
Facilities permitted to discharge under the Clean Water Act within ~5 miles; proximity does not by itself mean a facility affects this lake. Source: EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES), as of 2026-07.
Nearby Lakes in Kalamazoo County
Frequently asked questions about Barton Lake
Where is Barton Lake?
- Barton Lake is a lake in Kalamazoo County, Michigan. Its water-quality measurements are published by EGLE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Barton Lake?
- Barton Lake in Kalamazoo County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 8 ft visibility. Surface area: 335.3 acres.
Is Barton Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Barton Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury, pCBs. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Barton Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Barton Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 44 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate. The lake covers 335.3 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Barton Lake?
- Barton Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Barton Lake. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Barton Lake?
- Barton Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Michigan's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Explore Barton Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
107 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2016–2023. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-26.
Collected and reported by
- North American Lake Management Society
NALMS107 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
Regulated discharger data from EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES)
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory