Squaw Lake
Kalkaska County, Michigan66 acresView mapDirections
EGLE publishes the water-quality measurements for Squaw Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Limited data
Squaw Lake in Kalkaska County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 15 ft visibility. Surface area: 66.1 acres.
Free interactive depth-contour map of Squaw Lake, reaching a maximum surveyed depth of 5 ft. Toggle Depth contours to overlay the bathymetric survey lines. Contour data from Michigan DNR.
Squaw Lake is a 66-acre lake in Kalkaska County, Michigan. Water clarity is improving over recent sampling years. The lake supports 8 documented fish species including Blacknose shiner, Bluntnose minnow, and Green sunfish.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, EGLE, last sampled 2022-09-14. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Squaw Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Clear water15 ft of visibility
- Fishing8 species recorded
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Squaw 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 Squaw Lake
These are the measurements EGLE publishes for Squaw 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 15 ft down. TSI 38.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 15ft | 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. | 38 | Oligotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Low nutrients, clear water. No reading is a swimming clearance.
Ask about Squaw Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
66 acres
The available depth estimate for Squaw Lake is shallower than its measured water clarity, which cannot be right, so no depth is shown.
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Stays near Squaw Lake
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Fish Species
Click a species to see every lake where it is documented.
Fishing Squaw Lake
Water Quality Trend: Stable
Based on 8 years of monitoring (2016–2023).
Water clarity
Improving8 years
Phosphorus
Stable+0.02 µg/L/yr7 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+0.41 µg/L/yr7 years
Nearby Lakes in Kalkaska County
Frequently asked questions about Squaw Lake
Where is Squaw Lake?
- Squaw Lake is a lake in Kalkaska County, Michigan. Its water-quality measurements are published by EGLE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Squaw Lake?
- Squaw Lake in Kalkaska County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 15 ft visibility. Surface area: 66.1 acres.
Is Squaw Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Squaw Lake?
- The available depth estimate for Squaw Lake is shallower than its measured water clarity, which cannot be right, so no depth is shown. The lake covers 66.1 acres.
What fish are in Squaw Lake?
- Fish species found in Squaw Lake include Blacknose shiner, Bluntnose minnow, Green sunfish, Iowa darter, Largemouth bass, Northern pearl dace, White sucker, Yellow perch. Squaw Lake is located in Kalkaska County, Michigan.
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Where this data comes from
90 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
NALMS90 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.