Beaver Lake
Keweenaw County, Michigan50 acresView mapDirections
EGLE publishes the water-quality measurements for Beaver Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Mesotrophic
- 43 ft max depth
Beaver Lake in Keweenaw County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 8.9 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 12.9 µg/L. Surface area: 50.1 acres.
Beaver Lake is a 50-acre mesotrophic lake in Keweenaw County, Michigan with an estimated average depth of about 43 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. The lake supports 16 documented fish species including Bluntnose minnow, Brook stickleback, and Brook trout. Compared to the 10 other monitored lakes in Keweenaw County, Beaver Lake ranks #6 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, EGLE, last sampled 2024-08-20. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Beaver Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Fishing16 species recorded
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLow algae
Based on clarity and algae readings from past sampling — there is no live water temperature and a current cyanobacteria reading for this lake. Check your state or county health department before you swim.
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Beaver 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 Beaver Lake
These are the measurements EGLE publishes for Beaver 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 8.9 ft. Phosphorus 12.9 µg/L. TSI 43.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 8.9ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 12.9µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| 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 Beaver Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Water Temperature
Beaver Lake typically sits around 68°F at the surface in September. Summer average is about 68°F. Usually warmest in Aug (about 70°F) and coldest in May (about 49°F). These are typical values by month — not a live reading.
Column height runs from this lake’s coldest month (49°F) to its warmest (70°F).
Typical surface water temperature by month, from 512 field readings (2010–2024) via the EPA Water Quality Portal. See the full Beaver Lake water temperature breakdown →
Lake Details
Max depth
~43 ft est.
Surface area
50 acres
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Michigan has not published bathymetry for Beaver Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
1 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1.7 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
673 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.
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Beaver Lake
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Top-rated places to stay near Beaver Lake
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Fish Species
Click a species to see every lake where it is documented.
Fishing Beaver Lake
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 9 years of monitoring (2016–2024).
Water clarity
Worsening9 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+1.79 µg/L/yr9 years
Nearby Lakes in Keweenaw County
Frequently asked questions about Beaver Lake
Where is Beaver Lake?
- Beaver Lake is a lake in Keweenaw County, Michigan. Its water-quality measurements are published by EGLE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Beaver Lake?
- Beaver Lake in Keweenaw County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 8.9 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 12.9 µg/L. Surface area: 50.1 acres.
Is Beaver Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
What is the water temperature of Beaver Lake?
- Beaver Lake typically sits around 68°F at the surface in September, from 512 EPA Water Quality Portal field readings (2010–2024). That is a typical value for the month, not a live reading.
How deep is Beaver Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Beaver Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 43 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 50.1 acres.
What fish are in Beaver Lake?
- Fish species found in Beaver Lake include Bluntnose minnow, Brook stickleback, Brook trout, Brown bullhead, Johnny darter, Lake herring, Northern logperch, Northern pike, Northern redbelly dace, Rainbow trout, Rock bass, Sand shiner, Spottail shiner, Western blacknose dace, White sucker, Yellow perch. Beaver Lake is located in Keweenaw County, Michigan.
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Where this data comes from
61 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2016–2024. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-26.
Collected and reported by
- National Park Service Water Resources Division
11NPSWRD_WQX61 samples · 2016–2024
Analytical methods
- Secchi Disk
- Alkaline Persulfate Digestion for Total N and P in Water
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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)