How deep is Birch Lake?

Birch Lake is more than 80 feet deep. The deepest contour in the Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours survey is the 80 foot line, and the lake continues deeper inside it.

Where is the deepest part of Birch Lake?

The deepest charted water on Birch Lake lies inside the 80 ft contour, toward the middle of the lake. That contour encloses 44 acres, 20% of the mapped water, so it is a broad slice of the bottom rather than a pinpoint target, the depth chart above gives the contour to line up on.

How much of Birch Lake is shallower than 60 feet?

About half. The 60 ft contour encloses 88 acres of the roughly 216 acres inside the outer 10 ft line, so the other half of the water is shallower than 60 feet. The sharpest drop is between 50 and 60 feet, where the mapped water sheds 35 acres.

How accurate is this Birch Lake depth map?

The contours come from the Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours survey, retrieved August 2026 and last rebuilt on August 19, 2026. Depths change over time with water levels and sediment, so treat this map as a planning guide for fishing, and never use it for navigation. Acreages are computed from the published contour geometry, not from a separate area survey, so read them as close approximations.

Michigan lake depth maps

Birch Lake depth map

Birch Lake in Cass County, Michigan reaches a depth of more than 80 feet at its deepest surveyed contour. Birch Lake is charted here across 8 closed depth contours, from the 10 ft line down to 80 ft, enclosing about 216 acres of water. Half of that water lies inside the 60 ft line, and only 44 acres lie inside the deepest one. Every contour is on the interactive map below, free and without an account.

Data: Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours (public record). Contours closed, checked and area-computed by Jordan Carter, founder of GilledIt · page updated August 19, 2026

Birch Lake depth chart: 8 depth contours from 10 to 80 ft

Data: Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours (public record), retrieved August 2026 · depths change over time · not for navigation

Birch Lake depth chart data: water enclosed by each contour
Depth contour	Water inside it	Share of mapped water
10 ft	216 acres	100%
20 ft	201 acres	93%
30 ft	182 acres	84%
40 ft	153 acres	71%
50 ft	123 acres	57%
60 ft	88 acres	41%
70 ft	60 acres	28%
80 ft	44 acres	20%

Acreages are computed from the closed Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours contour rings, with islands subtracted. Shares are of the 216 acres inside the outermost charted contour (the 10 ft line), which is the outer edge of the mapped water, several state files carry no 0 ft shoreline line, so this is not the same as a share of the lake's published surface area.

Fishing Birch Lake: steep walls and a big basin

About 216 acres of Birch Lake sit inside the survey's 10 ft contour, and half of that water is already gone by the 60 ft line: depth comes quickly here, with no long shallow margin before the bottom drops away. The steepest break on the chart runs from 50 down to 60 ft: 35 acres of bottom fall away across 10 ft there, which makes that band the first contour to work. The deepest 80 ft contour holds 44 acres, 20% of the mapped water, toward the middle of the lake. 80 ft of water makes this a two-story fishery: warm-water fish hold the 10-to-60 ft ground while the basin can stay cold below the summer thermocline, and the traffic between the two runs along the 50–60 ft break at first and last light.

Ice fishing on Birch Lake

Birch Lake freezes later and less evenly than the shallow waters around it, and the winter bite sets up on the first real break rather than out over the 80 ft hole. The 50–60 ft band on the chart above is that edge: 35 acres of bottom tilt away there, and panfish and walleye slide up and down it through the day. Late ice pushes fish back onto the 10-to-60 ft flat. Check ice thickness locally before you walk out.

Birch Lake depth map FAQs

How deep is Birch Lake?: Birch Lake is more than 80 feet deep. The deepest contour in the Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours survey is the 80 foot line, and the lake continues deeper inside it.
Where is the deepest part of Birch Lake?: The deepest charted water on Birch Lake lies inside the 80 ft contour, toward the middle of the lake. That contour encloses 44 acres, 20% of the mapped water, so it is a broad slice of the bottom rather than a pinpoint target, the depth chart above gives the contour to line up on.
How much of Birch Lake is shallower than 60 feet?: About half. The 60 ft contour encloses 88 acres of the roughly 216 acres inside the outer 10 ft line, so the other half of the water is shallower than 60 feet. The sharpest drop is between 50 and 60 feet, where the mapped water sheds 35 acres.
How accurate is this Birch Lake depth map?: The contours come from the Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours survey, retrieved August 2026 and last rebuilt on August 19, 2026. Depths change over time with water levels and sediment, so treat this map as a planning guide for fishing, and never use it for navigation. Acreages are computed from the published contour geometry, not from a separate area survey, so read them as close approximations.

Depth maps for lakes near Birch Lake

Shavehead Lake depth map · 70+ ft max · 2 mi away
Donnell Lake depth map · 60+ ft max · 3 mi away
Diamond Lake depth map · 64 ft max · 6 mi away
Corey Lake depth map · 70+ ft max · 7 mi away
Baldwins Lake depth map · 55+ ft max · 7 mi away

Mapped fishing venues near Birch Lake

Birch Lake in the venue directory covers access and fishing details for this water.

Shavehead Lake · 2 mi away
Donnell Lake · 3 mi away
Diamond Lake · 6 mi away

Fishing in Michigan needs a state license: Michigan fishing license guide · all Michigan venues