How deep is Sylvan Lake?

Sylvan Lake is at least 63 feet deep. That figure is the deepest surveyed sounding in the Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours survey, a point measurement rather than a closed contour, so the deepest line you can actually trace on the map is the 60 ft contour, and the water may run deeper still.

Where is the deepest part of Sylvan Lake?

The deepest charted water on Sylvan Lake lies inside the 60 ft contour, toward the middle of the lake. That contour encloses 3.9 acres, 5.4% 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 Sylvan Lake is shallower than 30 feet?

About half. The 30 ft contour encloses 31 acres of the roughly 73 acres inside the outer 10 ft line, so the other half of the water is shallower than 30 feet. The sharpest drop is between 10 and 15 feet, where the mapped water sheds 14 acres.

How accurate is this Sylvan 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

Sylvan Lake depth map

Sylvan Lake in Newaygo County, Michigan reaches a depth of more than 63 feet at its deepest surveyed sounding. Sylvan Lake is charted here across 7 closed depth contours, from the 10 ft line down to 60 ft, enclosing about 73 acres of water. Half of that water lies inside the 30 ft line, and only 3.9 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

Sylvan Lake depth chart: 7 depth contours from 10 to 60 ft

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

Sylvan Lake depth chart data: water enclosed by each contour
Depth contour	Water inside it	Share of mapped water
10 ft	73 acres	100%
15 ft	59 acres	81%
20 ft	49 acres	67%
30 ft	31 acres	43%
40 ft	24 acres	34%
50 ft	16 acres	22%
60 ft	3.9 acres	5.4%

Acreages are computed from the closed Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours contour rings, with islands subtracted. Shares are of the 73 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. The survey also records a 63 ft sounding, marked as a point rather than a closed contour, so it is not charted as a band.

Fishing Sylvan Lake: a stepped drop into deep water

About 73 acres of Sylvan Lake sit inside the survey's 10 ft contour, and half of that water is already gone by the 30 ft line: the bottom steps down contour by contour into the deep basin rather than shelving flat or plunging all at once. The steepest break on the chart runs from 10 down to 15 ft: 14 acres of bottom fall away across 5 ft there, which makes that band the first contour to work. 3.9 acres, 5.4% of the mapped water, lie inside the deepest 60 ft contour, toward the middle of the lake. At 63 ft this is two-story water: the basin can stay cold below the summer thermocline while warm-water fish stay up on the 10-to-30 ft ground, and the fish that move between the two do it along the 10–15 ft break at first and last light.

Ice fishing on Sylvan Lake

Deep water like Sylvan 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 60 ft hole. That edge is the 10–15 ft band on the chart above, where 14 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 10-to-30 ft flat. Check ice thickness locally before you walk out.

Sylvan Lake depth map FAQs

How deep is Sylvan Lake?: Sylvan Lake is at least 63 feet deep. That figure is the deepest surveyed sounding in the Michigan DNR Inland Lake Contours survey, a point measurement rather than a closed contour, so the deepest line you can actually trace on the map is the 60 ft contour, and the water may run deeper still.
Where is the deepest part of Sylvan Lake?: The deepest charted water on Sylvan Lake lies inside the 60 ft contour, toward the middle of the lake. That contour encloses 3.9 acres, 5.4% 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 Sylvan Lake is shallower than 30 feet?: About half. The 30 ft contour encloses 31 acres of the roughly 73 acres inside the outer 10 ft line, so the other half of the water is shallower than 30 feet. The sharpest drop is between 10 and 15 feet, where the mapped water sheds 14 acres.
How accurate is this Sylvan 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 Sylvan Lake

Pickerel Lake depth map · 73 ft max · 1 mi away
Ryerson Lake depth map · 80+ ft max · 4 mi away
Fremont Lake depth map · 88+ ft max · 9 mi away
Baptist Lake depth map · 65+ ft max · 14 mi away
Half Moon Lake depth map · 82 ft max · 14 mi away

Mapped fishing venues near Sylvan Lake

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

Pickerel Lake · 1 mi away
Ryerson Lake · 4 mi away
Fremont Lake · 9 mi away

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