How deep is McLaren Lake?

McLaren Lake is more than 70 feet deep. The deepest contour in the Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours survey is the 70 foot line, and the lake continues deeper inside it.

Where is the deepest part of McLaren Lake?

The deepest charted water on McLaren Lake lies inside the 70 ft contour, toward the southern end of the lake. That contour encloses 1.3 acres, under 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 McLaren Lake is shallower than 30 feet?

About half. The 30 ft contour encloses 90 acres of the roughly 265 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 58 acres.

How accurate is this McLaren 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

McLaren Lake depth map

McLaren Lake in Oceana County, Michigan reaches a depth of more than 70 feet at its deepest surveyed contour. McLaren Lake is charted here across 8 closed depth contours, from the 5 ft line down to 70 ft, enclosing about 265 acres of water. Half of that water lies inside the 30 ft line, and only 1.3 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

McLaren Lake depth chart: 8 depth contours from 5 to 70 ft

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

McLaren Lake depth chart data: water enclosed by each contour
Depth contour	Water inside it	Share of mapped water
5 ft	265 acres	100%
10 ft	207 acres	78%
20 ft	155 acres	59%
30 ft	90 acres	34%
40 ft	48 acres	18%
50 ft	29 acres	11%
60 ft	15 acres	5.5%
70 ft	1.3 acres	under 1%

Acreages are computed from the closed Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours contour rings, with islands subtracted. Shares are of the 265 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 McLaren Lake: a stepped drop into deep water

Inside its outermost 5 ft contour the survey charts about 265 acres of McLaren Lake, with the 30 ft line enclosing half of it, so the drop to the deep basin comes in stages, each contour giving up another slice of water, rather than in one abrupt wall. The sharpest change on the chart is between 5 and 10 ft, where the mapped water loses 58 acres in 5 ft of depth, that band is the contour to work first, because it is where the bottom stops being flat. The deepest 70 ft contour holds 1.3 acres, under 1% of the mapped water, toward the southern end of the lake. 70 ft of water makes this a two-story fishery: warm-water fish hold the 5-to-30 ft ground while the basin can stay cold below the summer thermocline, and the traffic between the two runs along the 5–10 ft break at first and last light.

Ice fishing on McLaren Lake

McLaren 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 70 ft hole. The 5–10 ft band on the chart above is that edge: 58 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 5-to-30 ft flat. Check ice thickness locally before you walk out.

McLaren Lake depth map FAQs

How deep is McLaren Lake?: McLaren Lake is more than 70 feet deep. The deepest contour in the Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours survey is the 70 foot line, and the lake continues deeper inside it.
Where is the deepest part of McLaren Lake?: The deepest charted water on McLaren Lake lies inside the 70 ft contour, toward the southern end of the lake. That contour encloses 1.3 acres, under 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 McLaren Lake is shallower than 30 feet?: About half. The 30 ft contour encloses 90 acres of the roughly 265 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 58 acres.
How accurate is this McLaren 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 McLaren Lake

Woodland Lake depth map · 51+ ft max · 11 mi away
Fremont Lake depth map · 88+ ft max · 13 mi away
Ryerson Lake depth map · 80+ ft max · 14 mi away
Hart Lake depth map · 29+ ft max · 16 mi away
Pickerel Lake depth map · 73 ft max · 17 mi away

Mapped fishing venues near McLaren Lake

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

Woodland Lake · 11 mi away
Fremont Lake · 13 mi away
Ryerson Lake · 14 mi away

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