Bear Lake
Manistee County, Michigan1,873 acresView mapDirections
EGLE publishes the water-quality measurements for Bear Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Public access
- Limited data
Bear Lake in Manistee County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 11 ft visibility. Surface area: 1873.3 acres.
Free interactive depth-contour map of Bear Lake, reaching a maximum surveyed depth of 6 ft. Toggle Depth contours to overlay the bathymetric survey lines. Contour data from Michigan DNR.
Bear Lake is a 1,873-acre lake in Manistee County, Michigan. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years. The lake supports 14 documented fish species including Blacknose shiner, Blackstripe topminnow, and Bluntnose minnow. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, EGLE, last sampled 2022-09-11. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Bear Lake covers about 1,900 acres in Manistee County. It has one public boat landing. For a place on the water, look through cabin and lake-house rentals near Bear Lake on Vrbo. For a hotel or motel room, Booking.com and Expedia both search around the lake.
What Bear Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Clear water11 ft of visibility
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
- Fishing14 species recorded
- Big water1,873 acres
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Bear 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 Bear Lake
These are the measurements EGLE publishes for Bear Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Good clarity, visible to about 11 ft. TSI 43.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 11ft | 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. | 43 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Bear Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
1,873 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by EGLE
The available depth estimate for Bear Lake is shallower than its measured water clarity, which cannot be right, so no depth is shown.
Recreation & Access
- Bear 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 Bear Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Bear Lake in Manistee 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 Bear 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 Bear Lake
Water Quality Trend: Improving
Based on 8 years of monitoring (2016–2023).
Water clarity
Improving8 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+0.23 µg/L/yr7 years
Chlorophyll-a
Improving-0.26 µg/L/yr7 years
Nearby Lakes in Manistee County
Frequently asked questions about Bear Lake
Where is Bear Lake?
- Bear Lake is a lake in Manistee County, Michigan. Its water-quality measurements are published by EGLE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Bear Lake?
- Bear Lake in Manistee County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 11 ft visibility. Surface area: 1873.3 acres.
Is Bear Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Bear Lake?
- The available depth estimate for Bear Lake is shallower than its measured water clarity, which cannot be right, so no depth is shown. The lake covers 1873.3 acres.
What fish are in Bear Lake?
- Fish species found in Bear Lake include Blacknose shiner, Blackstripe topminnow, Bluntnose minnow, Golden shiner, Grass pickerel, Iowa darter, Lake herring, Largemouth bass, Least darter, Mimic shiner, Rock bass, Smallmouth bass, White sucker, Yellow perch. Bear Lake is located in Manistee County, Michigan.
Are there boat ramps on Bear Lake?
- Bear Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Bear Lake. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Bear Lake?
- Bear 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 Bear Lake across LakeQuality
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Planning a trip around Sleeping Bear Dunes?
Bear Lake is about 35 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
115 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2016–2022. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-26.
Collected and reported by
- North American Lake Management Society
NALMS115 samples · 2016–2022
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
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory