Michigan lake depth maps
Burt Lake depth map
Burt Lake in Cheboygan County, Michigan reaches a depth of 73 feet. Burt Lake is charted here across 6 closed depth contours, from the 5 ft line down to 50 ft, enclosing about 17,370 acres of water. Half of that water lies inside the 40 ft line, and only 3,389 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
Burt Lake depth chart: 6 depth contours from 5 to 50 ft
Data: Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours (public record), retrieved August 2026 · depths change over time · not for navigation
| Depth contour | Water inside it | Share of mapped water |
|---|---|---|
| 5 ft | 17,370 acres | 100% |
| 10 ft | 15,343 acres | 88% |
| 20 ft | 13,790 acres | 79% |
| 30 ft | 11,149 acres | 64% |
| 40 ft | 7,881 acres | 45% |
| 50 ft | 3,389 acres | 20% |
Acreages are computed from the closed Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours contour rings, with islands subtracted. Shares are of the 17,370 acres inside the outermost charted contour (the 5 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. The survey also records a 54 ft sounding, marked as a point rather than a closed contour, so it is not charted as a band.
Fishing Burt Lake: steep walls and a big basin
The survey encloses about 17,370 acres of Burt Lake inside its 5 ft contour, and half of that water lies inside the 40 ft line, so the bottom holds its depth well out from the bank rather than tapering off a long shallow margin. Between 40 and 50 ft the mapped water sheds 4,492 acres in 10 ft of depth, the sharpest change on the chart, start on that band, because it is where the bottom stops being flat. 3,389 acres, 20% of the mapped water, lie inside the deepest 50 ft contour, toward the northeastern corner of the lake. At 73 ft this is two-story water: the basin can stay cold below the summer thermocline while warm-water fish stay up on the 5-to-40 ft ground, and the fish that move between the two do it along the 40–50 ft break at first and last light.
Ice fishing on Burt Lake
Deep water like Burt Lake freezes later and less evenly than the shallow lakes around it, and the winter bite sets up on the first real break, not out over the 50 ft hole. That edge is the 40–50 ft band on the chart above, where 4,492 acres of bottom tilt away, and panfish and walleye work up and down it through the day. By late ice the fish push back onto the 5-to-40 ft flat. Check ice thickness locally before you walk out.
Burt Lake depth map FAQs
- How deep is Burt Lake?
- Burt Lake reaches a maximum depth of 73 feet in the Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours survey. Most of it is far shallower: the survey charts 6 closed depth contours over about 17,370 acres, and half of that water sits inside the 40 ft line. The 54 ft figure is a single recorded sounding rather than a closed contour, so the deepest line you can actually trace on the map is 50 ft.
- Where is the deepest part of Burt Lake?
- The deepest charted water on Burt Lake lies inside the 50 ft contour, toward the northeastern corner of the lake. That contour encloses 3,389 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 Burt Lake is shallower than 40 feet?
- About half. The 40 ft contour encloses 7,881 acres of the roughly 17,370 acres inside the outer 5 ft line, so the other half of the water is shallower than 40 feet. The sharpest drop is between 40 and 50 feet, where the mapped water sheds 4,492 acres.
- How accurate is this Burt 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 Burt Lake
- Mullett Lake depth map · 120 ft max · 7 mi away
- Douglas Lake depth map · 80+ ft max · 8 mi away
- Long Lake depth map · 61 ft max · 14 mi away
- Twin Lakes depth map · 73+ ft max · 19 mi away
- Walloon Lake depth map · 100+ ft max · 19 mi away
Mapped fishing venues near Burt Lake
Burt Lake in the venue directory covers access and fishing details for this water.
- Mullett Lake · 7 mi away
- Douglas Lake · 8 mi away
- Long Lake · 14 mi away
Fishing in Michigan needs a state license: Michigan fishing license guide · all Michigan venues