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Updated August 2026 · Top 25 of 495 lakes with a Secchi reading

Clearest Lake in Michigan: Top 25 by Secchi Depth

Higgins Lake in Roscommon County is the clearest lake in Michigan by Secchi depth, at 34 ft. Mapped and ranked below: the 25 clearest of 495 Michigan lakes with a Secchi reading. Secchi depth is clarity alone: phosphorus and chlorophyll-a are separate readings, so a clear lake can carry higher nutrient readings than a murkier one.

Map · 25 ranked lakesTap a pin for its lakeTap a pin for the lake's page

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Nutrient and algae readings on recordNo reading on record#1 in this rankingPins are this ranking's lakes at their surveyed locations.

How clear are Michigan's clearest lakes?

From 34 ft at Higgins Lake to 21 ft at #25, Hagerman Lake; the median of the 25 is 23 ft.

#	Lake	County	Secchi depth	Max depth	Area
1	Higgins Lake	Roscommon	34 ft	—	10,187 acres
2	Crystal Lake	Benzie	32 ft	175 ft	9,865 acres
3	Silver Lake	Cheboygan	32 ft	91 ft	68 acres
4	Torch Lake	Antrim	30 ft	250 ft	18,714 acres
5	Bear Lake	Kalkaska	30 ft	50 ft	313 acres
6	Avery Lake	Montmorency	27 ft	—	322 acres
7	Lake Sapphire	Missaukee	26.2 ft	8 ft	246 acres
8	Chancellor Lake	Mason	26 ft	50 ft	67 acres
9	Long Lake	Grand Traverse	24.3 ft	88 ft	2,911 acres
10	Blue Lake	Kalkaska	24 ft	80 ft	108 acres
11	Big Blue Lake	Kalkaska	24 ft	—	—
12	Smoky Lake	Iron	24 ft	—	—
13	Golden Lake	Iron	23 ft	100 ft	274 acres
14	Twin Lake	Kalkaska	23 ft	80 ft	209 acres
15	Loon Lake	Iosco	23 ft	128 ft	417 acres
16	Big Twin Lake	Kalkaska	23 ft	—	—
17	Square Lake	Oakland	23 ft	67 ft	81 acres
18	Big Bradford Lake	Otsego	22 ft	—	256 acres
19	Papoose Lake	Kalkaska	22 ft	17 ft	13 acres
20	Starvation Lake	Kalkaska	21.5 ft	47 ft	99 acres
21	Bass Lake	Dickinson	21.5 ft	58 ft	62 acres
22	Blue Lake	Iron	21.5 ft	—	18 acres
23	Little Twin Lake	Kalkaska	21 ft	31 ft	85 acres
24	First Lake	Iron	21 ft	—	185 acres
25	Hagerman Lake	Iron	21 ft	50 ft	565 acres

Sources and method

Secchi depth: Median of each lake's EPA Water Quality Portal readings, sampled April 2016 to July 2026, in feet. For 18 of these 25 lakes the submitting agency is North American Lake Management Society. Portal: EPA Water Quality Portal.
Readings: clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a from the agency's own sampling, shown as reported. Clarity is a separate measurement from nutrients and algae, which is why a clear lake here can carry higher phosphorus than a murkier one.
Max depth: Michigan DNR Institute for Fisheries Research surveys. Surveyed depths only; a dash means no survey recorded one.
Area: state agency lake surveys and, for reservoirs, US Army Corps of Engineers National Inventory of Dams records, in acres at normal pool. A dash means no record carries one.
Map pins: all 25 table rows. No other lakes are plotted.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the clearest lake in Michigan?

Higgins Lake in Roscommon County is the clearest lake in Michigan by Secchi depth, at 34 ft. Secchi depth is measured by lowering a black-and-white disk until it disappears from view; a deeper reading means clearer water. Higgins Lake has no nutrient or algae reading on record: the only measurement available is water clarity, which is not a water-quality indicator on its own — EPA's National Lakes Assessment does not grade clarity.

How clear are Michigan's 25 clearest lakes?

They span 21 ft to 34 ft of Secchi depth, with a median of 23 ft. Higgins Lake leads by 2 ft. Kalkaska County has 8 of the 25; the rest are spread across 13 other counties.

How is water clarity measured?

Water clarity is measured by Secchi depth, named after the 19th-century Italian astronomer Pietro Angelo Secchi who developed the method. A standardized black-and-white disk is lowered into the water on a rope; the depth (in feet or meters) at which the disk disappears from view is recorded. Greater Secchi depth means clearer water, usually a sign of low sediment, low phosphorus, and limited algae growth. The figure for each lake here is the median of its readings.

What makes a lake clear?

Lake clarity is driven by three factors: low suspended sediment (clay, silt), low nutrient load (especially phosphorus, which fuels algae), and low chlorophyll-a (active algae biomass). Deep lakes with rocky basins and forested watersheds tend to be clearest because they take in little soil runoff and few nutrients. Shallow lakes in farmed watersheds are typically less clear because they receive more sediment and fertilizer runoff.

Is the clearest lake the cleanest?

Not always. Clarity (Secchi depth) is measured and shown; nutrient and algae readings (total phosphorus and chlorophyll-a) are a separate measurement, compared against that lake’s EPA ecoregion classes. A lake can be very clear but still have elevated phosphorus that just hasn't bloomed yet. See our companion cleanest-lakes ranking for Michigan for the nutrient-and-algae list.

Where to stay near Michigan's clearest lakes

Planning a trip? Jump to live cabin, resort, and hotel availability near Michigan's clearest lakes.

Clearest lakes across all states →Cleanest lakes in Michigan (combined score) →All Michigan lakes →

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