Slim Lake under flat overcast, dark open water running to a low wooded shore

Updated August 2026 · Top 50 of 1,702 lakes with a surveyed depth

Deepest Inland Lake in Michigan: Torch Lake

Torch Lake is Michigan's deepest inland lake, per the Michigan DNR, Institute for Fisheries Research. Lake Superior is deeper at 1,332 ft. Great Lake bordering Michigan (Michigan 925 ft, Huron 750 ft, Erie 210 ft also border the state). Torch is the deepest lake entirely inside Michigan. Published depths for Torch Lake differ between sources; the agency's figure is 285 ft, so no single number is settled. Mapped and ranked below: the 50 deepest of 1,702 Michigan lakes with a surveyed maximum depth.

Map · 50 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.

Top 50 Deepest Lakes in Michigan (by max depth)

#	Lake	County	Max depth	Mean depth	Surface area
1	Torch Lake	Antrim	250 ft	—	18,714 ac
2	Crystal Lake	Benzie	175 ft	—	9,865 ac
3	Thumb Lake	Charlevoix	152 ft	—	508 ac
4	Elk Lake	Antrim	150 ft	—	—
5	Elk Lake	Grand Traverse	150 ft	21 ft	8,201 ac
6	Glen Lake	Leelanau	130 ft	—	6,289 ac
7	Loon Lake	Iosco	128 ft	—	417 ac
8	Cass Lake	Oakland	123 ft	—	1,118 ac
9	Torch Lake	Houghton	123 ft	16 ft	2,240 ac
10	Lake Charlevoix	Charlevoix	122 ft	—	17,256 ac
11	Mullett Lake	Cheboygan	120 ft	—	16,702 ac
12	Lotus Lake	Oakland	117 ft	—	183 ac
13	Maceday Lake	Oakland	117 ft	—	210 ac
14	Otter Lake	Lapeer	117 ft	11 ft	68 ac
15	Gull Lake	Kalamazoo	110 ft	—	2,050 ac
16	Chicagon Lake	Iron	110 ft	—	1,083 ac
17	Hardy Dam Pond	Newaygo	110 ft	26 ft	2,775 ac
18	Union Lake	Oakland	110 ft	13 ft	467 ac
19	Orchard Lake	Oakland	110 ft	13 ft	796 ac
20	Heart Lake	Otsego	110 ft	15 ft	67 ac
21	Gilkey Lake	Barry	108 ft	10 ft	84 ac
22	Green Lake	Grand Traverse	102 ft	—	1,996 ac
23	Golden Lake	Iron	100 ft	—	274 ac
24	Long Lake	Iron	100 ft	20 ft	60 ac
25	Duck Lake	Grand Traverse	98 ft	—	1,944 ac
26	Upper Straits Lake	Oakland	96 ft	—	345 ac
27	Lake Bellaire	Antrim	95 ft	—	1,520 ac
28	North Lake	Alcona	95 ft	16 ft	86 ac
29	Oxbow Lake	Gogebic	95 ft	12 ft	98 ac
30	Witch Lake	Marquette	95 ft	18 ft	211 ac
31	Sugarbush Lake	Barry	93 ft	—	30 ac
32	Silver Lake	Cheboygan	91 ft	—	68 ac
33	Lake Fenton	Genesee	90 ft	—	879 ac
34	Platte Lake	Benzie	90 ft	—	2,531 ac
35	Bills Lake	Newaygo	90 ft	—	198 ac
36	Paw Paw Lake	Berrien	90 ft	9 ft	923 ac
37	Coldwater Lake	Branch	90 ft	12 ft	1,582 ac
38	Shupac Lake	Crawford	90 ft	19 ft	105 ac
39	Beatons Lake	Gogebic	90 ft	14 ft	324 ac
40	Silver Lake	Grand Traverse	90 ft	23 ft	610 ac
41	Clear Lake	Montmorency	90 ft	20 ft	138 ac
42	George Lake	Ogemaw	90 ft	16 ft	186 ac
43	Shoepac Lake	Presque Isle	90 ft	13 ft	53 ac
44	Fremont Lake	Newaygo	88 ft	—	801 ac
45	Long Lake	Grand Traverse	88 ft	—	2,911 ac
46	Derby Lake	Montcalm	87 ft	—	113 ac
47	Curtis Lake	Alcona	86 ft	—	31 ac
48	Grand Sable Lake	Alger	85 ft	—	656 ac
49	Scram Lake	Kent	85 ft	—	80 ac
50	Cedar Lake	Van Buren	84 ft	—	275 ac

Sources and method

Max and mean depth: Michigan DNR Institute for Fisheries Research surveys. Surveyed depths only; modeled estimates are never ranked. A dash means the survey did not record a mean.
Deepest inland lake: Torch Lake, per the Michigan DNR, Institute for Fisheries Research, 1958 (DNR lake inventory map: soundings 1953, inventory 1957-58; retrieved 2026-07-30). The agency's figure is 285 ft; other published depths differ, so no single number is treated as settled. Torch Lake has no page here yet, so it is absent from the table.
Readings: clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a from the agency's own sampling, shown as reported. Depth is not a water-quality reading.
Map pins: the 50 table rows with surveyed coordinates. No other lakes are plotted.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the deepest lake in Michigan?

Torch Lake, in Antrim and Kalkaska County, is the deepest inland lake. Lake Superior is deeper at 1,332 ft. Great Lake bordering Michigan (Michigan 925 ft, Huron 750 ft, Erie 210 ft also border the state). Torch is the deepest lake entirely inside Michigan. Published depths differ between sources; the agency's figure is 285 ft, so no single number is settled. Source: Michigan DNR, Institute for Fisheries Research, 1958 (DNR lake inventory map: soundings 1953, inventory 1957-58; retrieved 2026-07-30).

How are lake depths measured?

Maximum depth is the deepest point at full-pool water level, from state agency bathymetric surveys and, for reservoirs, dam-design records. The ranking uses surveyed depths only, never modeled estimates. Everyday water level can sit below the surveyed figure during drawdowns or drought. Mean depth, the average across the whole basin, is listed where a survey recorded it.

Why are some Michigan lakes so much deeper than others?

Lake depth depends on how the lake formed. Glacial lakes (common in MN, WI, MI, NY) were carved by ice sheets and can exceed 200 ft. Reservoir lakes (common in IA, MO, OK, KS) are shaped by river valley depth at the dam site — typically 50-150 ft at the dam, much shallower upstream. Flooded mine pits can be deeper still. Oxbow lakes and pothole lakes formed by river meandering or glacial pitting tend to be shallower, usually under 30 ft.

Does deeper mean cleaner?

Not directly, but deeper lakes tend to be cleaner on average. Depth creates thermal stratification in summer, isolating cold deep water from surface algal blooms. Deep lakes also resist nutrient resuspension from wind-driven sediment mixing. That said, many deep lakes still suffer from impairment if the watershed loads heavy phosphorus — each lake's page carries its nutrient readings and EPA impairment status.

What's the average depth of Michigan lakes in this ranking?

Across the 50 deepest Michigan lakes, the average maximum depth is 108 ft and the median is 96 ft (Upper Straits Lake). This is the top of 1,702 lakes with a surveyed depth, so it is biased toward deep lakes; the typical Michigan lake is shallower.

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