How deep is Golden Lake?

Golden Lake reaches a maximum depth of 100 feet in the Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours survey. Most of it is far shallower: the survey charts 20 closed depth contours over about 292 acres, and half of that water sits inside the 30 ft line.

Where is the deepest part of Golden Lake?

The deepest charted water on Golden Lake lies inside the 100 ft contour, toward the southern end of the lake. That contour encloses 3.2 acres, 1.1% of the mapped water, so it is a small target on a small water, the depth chart above gives the contour to line up on.

How much of Golden Lake is shallower than 30 feet?

About half. The 30 ft contour encloses 141 acres of the roughly 292 acres inside the outer 5 ft line, so the other half of the water is shallower than 30 feet. The sharpest drop is between 5 and 10 feet, where the mapped water sheds 52 acres.

How accurate is this Golden 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

Golden Lake depth map

Golden Lake in Iron County, Michigan reaches a depth of 100 feet. Golden Lake is charted here across 20 closed depth contours, from the 5 ft line down to 100 ft, enclosing about 292 acres of water. Half of that water lies inside the 30 ft line, and only 3.2 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

Golden Lake depth chart: 20 depth contours from 5 to 100 ft

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

Golden Lake depth chart data: water enclosed by each contour
Depth contour	Water inside it	Share of mapped water
5 ft	292 acres	100%
10 ft	240 acres	82%
15 ft	204 acres	70%
20 ft	180 acres	62%
25 ft	159 acres	54%
30 ft	141 acres	48%
35 ft	124 acres	43%
40 ft	103 acres	36%
45 ft	93 acres	32%
50 ft	83 acres	29%
55 ft	70 acres	24%
60 ft	60 acres	21%
65 ft	45 acres	16%
70 ft	36 acres	12%
75 ft	28 acres	9.6%
80 ft	22 acres	7.6%
85 ft	17 acres	5.8%
90 ft	12 acres	4.2%
95 ft	8.6 acres	2.9%
100 ft	3.2 acres	1.1%

Acreages are computed from the closed Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours contour rings, with islands subtracted. Shares are of the 292 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.

Fishing Golden Lake: a wide shallow flat over a deep hole

About 292 acres of Golden Lake sit inside the survey's 5 ft contour, and half of that water is already gone by the 30 ft line: most of this Iron County water is shallow and the depth is concentrated in one part of the basin. The steepest break on the chart runs from 5 down to 10 ft: 52 acres of bottom fall away across 5 ft there, which makes that band the first contour to work. 3.2 acres, 1.1% of the mapped water, lie inside the deepest 100 ft contour, toward the southern end of the lake. At 100 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-30 ft ground, and the fish that move between the two do it along the 5–10 ft break at first and last light.

Ice fishing on Golden Lake

Deep water like Golden 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 100 ft hole. That edge is the 5–10 ft band on the chart above, where 52 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-30 ft flat. Check ice thickness locally before you walk out.

Golden Lake depth map FAQs

How deep is Golden Lake?: Golden Lake reaches a maximum depth of 100 feet in the Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours survey. Most of it is far shallower: the survey charts 20 closed depth contours over about 292 acres, and half of that water sits inside the 30 ft line.
Where is the deepest part of Golden Lake?: The deepest charted water on Golden Lake lies inside the 100 ft contour, toward the southern end of the lake. That contour encloses 3.2 acres, 1.1% of the mapped water, so it is a small target on a small water, the depth chart above gives the contour to line up on.
How much of Golden Lake is shallower than 30 feet?: About half. The 30 ft contour encloses 141 acres of the roughly 292 acres inside the outer 5 ft line, so the other half of the water is shallower than 30 feet. The sharpest drop is between 5 and 10 feet, where the mapped water sheds 52 acres.
How accurate is this Golden 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 Golden Lake

Smoky Lake depth map · 60+ ft max · 6 mi away
Lac Vieux Desert depth map · 38+ ft max · 11 mi away
Iron Lake depth map · 45+ ft max · 11 mi away
Schneider Lake depth map · 60 ft max · 13 mi away
Wilson Lake depth map · 60 ft max · 13 mi away

Mapped fishing venues near Golden Lake

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

Smoky Lake · 6 mi away
Lac Vieux Desert · 11 mi away
Iron Lake · 11 mi away

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