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

Updated August 2026 · Top 50 of 1,016 lakes with a surveyed depth

Deepest Lake in Wisconsin: Wazee Lake (350 ft)

Wazee Lake is Wisconsin's deepest inland lake at 350 ft, per the Wisconsin DNR. Lake Superior is deeper at 1,332 ft. Great Lake bordering Wisconsin (Lake Michigan, 925 ft, also borders the state). Wazee is the deepest lake entirely inland. Mapped and ranked below: the 50 deepest of 1,016 Wisconsin lakes with a surveyed maximum depth.

Map · 50 ranked lakesTap a pin for its lakeTap a pin for the lake's report card

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Graded A–FNot rated#1 in this rankingPins are this ranking's lakes at their surveyed locations.

Top 50 Deepest Lakes in Wisconsin (by max depth)

#	Lake	County	Max depth	Mean depth	Surface area	Grade
1	Wazee Lake	Jackson	350 ft	—	146 ac	NR
2	Green Lake	Green Lake	236 ft	—	7,920 ac	A
3	Geneva Lake	Walworth	135 ft	—	5,401 ac	A
4	Elkhart Lake	Sheboygan	119 ft	—	292 ac	B
5	Beaver Dam Lake	Barron	106 ft	—	1,163 ac	B
6	Big Cedar Lake-North Site-Near West Bend	Washington	105 ft	—	937 ac	A
7	Whitefish Lake	Sawyer	105 ft	—	800 ac	A
8	Presque Isle Lake	Vilas	103 ft	—	1,165 ac	B
9	Whitefish Lake	Douglas	102 ft	—	848 ac	B
10	Lower Pine Lake	Polk	102 ft	—	96 ac	C
11	Long Lake	Chippewa	101 ft	—	936 ac	B
12	Sand Lake	Rusk	100 ft	—	272 ac	NR
13	Little Trout Lake	Vilas	98 ft	—	1,007 ac	B
14	Clear Lake	Oneida	95 ft	—	873 ac	B
15	Lake Owen	Bayfield	95 ft	—	1,250 ac	B
16	Jordan Lake	Adams	92 ft	—	233 ac	B
17	Upper Eau Claire Lake	Bayfield	92 ft	—	1,024 ac	B
18	Chippewa Flowage -North of Cranberry Bars Lake	Sawyer	92 ft	—	14,593 ac	C
19	Silver Lake	Barron	91 ft	—	331 ac	B
20	Lac Courte Oreilles Lake	Sawyer	90 ft	—	5,139 ac	A
21	Nagawicka Lake	Waukesha	90 ft	—	981 ac	B
22	Ocauchee Lake	Waukesha	90 ft	—	1,210 ac	B
23	Gilas Lake	Marinette	88 ft	—	135 ac	B
24	Hewitt Lake	Iron	88 ft	—	79 ac	NR
25	Bear Lake	Barron	87 ft	—	1,348 ac	B
26	Big Crawling Stone Deep Lake	Vilas	87 ft	—	1,483 ac	NR
27	Fence Lake Deep	Vilas	86 ft	—	3,483 ac	NR
28	Plummer Lake	Vilas	85 ft	—	219 ac	B
29	Black Oak Lake	Vilas	85 ft	—	564 ac	B
30	Pine Lake	Waukesha	85 ft	—	711 ac	B
31	English Lake	Manitowoc	85 ft	—	48 ac	B
32	Diamond Lake	Bayfield	83 ft	—	322 ac	B
33	Lake Mendota	Dane	83 ft	—	9,781 ac	D
34	Sea Lion Lake	Florence	82 ft	—	114 ac	B
35	Swan Lake	Columbia	82 ft	—	407 ac	NR
36	Dead Pike Lake	Vilas	80 ft	—	309 ac	B
37	Lake Metonga	Forest	79 ft	—	2,038 ac	B
38	North Lake	Waukesha	78 ft	—	440 ac	B
39	Flambeau Lake Deep	Vilas	78 ft	—	1,166 ac	NR
40	Middle Kimball Lake	Washburn	77 ft	—	96 ac	B
41	Long Lake	Waupaca	76 ft	—	112 ac	B
42	Little Sissabagama Lake	Sawyer	75 ft	—	308 ac	B
43	Big Carr Lake	Oneida	75 ft	—	209 ac	NR
44	Round Lake	Sawyer	74 ft	—	3,294 ac	A
45	Clear Lake	Rusk	74 ft	—	94 ac	B
46	Chain Lake	Chippewa	74 ft	—	454 ac	NR
47	Squash Lake	Oneida	74 ft	—	398 ac	B
48	Long Lake North Channel	Washburn	74 ft	—	3,478 ac	NR
49	Lake Lucerne	Forest	73 ft	—	1,039 ac	B
50	Birch Lake	Washburn	73 ft	—	364 ac	C

Sources and method

Max and mean depth: Wisconsin DNR lake surveys. Surveyed depths only; modeled estimates are never ranked. A dash means the survey did not record a mean.
Deepest inland lake: Wazee Lake, 350 ft, per the Wisconsin DNR, 2026-07-30 (WI DNR lake record; corroborated by PUB-FH-800, 2009). Wazee Lake report card
Grade: A–F water-quality grade from EPA Water Quality Portal nutrient and algae sampling, where enough recent samples exist to support one; the dashed NR mark otherwise. Depth is not part of the grade.
Map pins: the 50 table rows with surveyed coordinates, colored by grade. No other lakes are plotted.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the deepest lake in Wisconsin?

Wazee Lake, at 350 ft, in Jackson County, is the deepest inland lake. Lake Superior is deeper at 1,332 ft. Great Lake bordering Wisconsin (Lake Michigan, 925 ft, also borders the state). Wazee is the deepest lake entirely inland. Source: Wisconsin DNR, 2026-07-30 (WI DNR lake record; corroborated by PUB-FH-800, 2009).

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 Wisconsin 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 grade and EPA impairment status.

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

Across the 50 deepest Wisconsin lakes, the average maximum depth is 97 ft and the median is 87 ft (Big Crawling Stone Deep Lake). This is the top of 1,016 lakes with a surveyed depth, so it is biased toward deep lakes; the typical Wisconsin lake is shallower.

Where to stay near Wisconsin's deepest lakes

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