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Clark Lake

Luce County, Michigan · MI DNR bathymetric survey
6ft Max
depth
171 acres 3 contours
Paddling Index82Very GoodMedium confidenceaway from major roads · wooded shoreline · sheltered geometry
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Depth scale

The lake

Survey readout

Clark Lake is mapped to a depth of 6 ft on the Michigan DNR survey and covers about 171 acres in Luce County, Michigan.

Measured from the Michigan DNR inland-lake contour survey.

Deepest mapped contour
6 ft
Mean depth
4.1 ft · estimated
Surface area
171 acres
Estimated volume
696 acre-ft · 227M gal
Shoreline
2.44 mi · lobed
Aquatic vegetation
20% of surface · NDVI estimate
Public access
No public DNR launch identified
In
Tahquamenon Falls State Park · 48,216 ac
Additional depth details3 contours
Contour depths
0–6 ft
Recorded point soundings
6 ft

100% of the surface sits over water shallower than 10 ft. Depth, area and volume are estimated from the interpolated survey surface — historical reference, not measurement.

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Chart data

Provenance

Sources: MI DNR inland lake contours, USGS 3DEP, USDA NAIP (public domain), OpenStreetMap (ODbL), MI DNR Boat Launches.

⚠ Not for navigation

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Map details & sources5 sources

All layers registered to one bounding box; positions in WGS 84.

Survey-derived depth contours drape over USGS 3DEP elevation, with a USDA NAIP aerial basemap and OpenStreetMap shoreline. Colour shows surveyed depth; dark lines are the survey's own isobaths.

Coordinates
46.62057, -85.24221
MI DNR lake ID
L26298
Vertical exaggeration
11.2× below the waterline; land at true scale
Basemap
USDA NAIP · public domain
Model size
2.5 MB

Paddling

Paddling Index methodology v1.0 · calculated 2026-08-21
82 / 100Very GoodData confidence: Medium

Clark Lake has a heavily wooded and largely undeveloped setting, generally sheltered geometry, little nearby major-road exposure. No special watercraft restriction is identified in the current source.

Why this score?5 components

Included in the index

ComponentRatingPoints of weightMeasurement
Natural settingExcellent35.3 of 3595% natural land cover within 150 m of shore (2% forest, 93% wetland; 1% developed)
Geometric wind exposureVery Good20.1 of 29mean fetch 864 m · 0% of sampled water within 500 m of shelter · generally short fetch
Watercraft controlsNone identified8.8 of 18No special watercraft restriction identified in the current DNR source. Motors permitted, subject to general law.
Public accessNot listedNo DNR-listed access site. Township, county and road-end launches are not in this source, so this is not evidence that access is poor — the component is excluded and the remaining weights are renormalized.
Road isolationExcellent17.6 of 18relatively isolated from major roads · 0 MDOT-classified segments within 1.2 km

Additional paddling considerations

These describe the lake but are not part of the v1 Paddling Index and do not change the number above.

Wake sensitivity
Low — wide enough that wakes disperse over most of the lake
Aquatic vegetation
Moderate — approximately 20% mapped coverage · NAIP aerial imagery (NDVI)
Observed motorized activity
Unknown — No lake-level measurement of boat traffic is available. Legal permission to operate motors is not evidence of use.
Wildlife habitat potential
High — 2% forest and 93% wetland cover within 150 m of shore
How this index is calculated. The Paddling Index is a relative composite derived from lake geometry and public environmental, access, roadway and watercraft-control data. It is not a user review, a safety rating, or a prediction of an individual outing. Differences of a few points should not be treated as meaningful — an 84 and an 82 are broadly comparable. Components and weights: natural setting 30%, geometric wind exposure 25%, watercraft controls 15%, public access 15%, road isolation 15%; observed motorboat activity is weighted 0% because no defensible lake-level measurement exists. Where a component has no data the remaining weights are renormalized and the confidence rating is lowered; below Medium confidence no number is shown. Sources: MI DNR Watercraft Control Areas (2026-08), USGS/MRLC NLCD Land Cover (2021), MDOT Annual Average Daily Traffic (2025) and MI DNR bathymetric survey outline (0 ft isobath). Conditions change quickly — check current weather and local conditions before going out.

Fish you might catch

from angler catches

2 species with recent evidence in this lake — sized relative to each other. Illustrations are AI-generated representative adults in everyday colours, not photographs (provenance).

Channel Catfish
Crappie

Fishing rules for this lake Beta

Size and daily limits for the 2 species found here — 2 open to harvest.

These are hook-and-line size, daily limit and season rules. Gear, spearing and bow fishing, spawning closures and rod limits are set by other Fisheries Orders and are not shown here.

Channel CatfishOpen to harvestMinimum size: 12" · Daily limit: 10 (FO-215 · statewide inland)
CrappieOpen to harvestMinimum size: no size limit · Daily limit: 25 (FO-215 · statewide inland) The 25 is in any combination of the sunfishes — Bluegill, Pumpkinseed, Black and White Crappie, Rock Bass, Green, Longear and Redear Sunfish, Warmouth and hybrids — not 25 of each (FO-215.23A).
Beta. This panel is newly published. Every value is parsed from the Michigan DNR fisheries orders and hand-checked against the printed digest, but the coverage and wording are still under review. If anything here disagrees with the Michigan DNR's Fisheries Orders or its printed digest, the DNR is right — the signed Fisheries Order is the legal text; the digest summarises it.
Channel CatfishOpen to harvestMinimum size: 12" · Daily limit: 10 (FO-215 · statewide inland)
CrappieOpen to harvestMinimum size: no size limit · Daily limit: 25 (FO-215 · statewide inland) The 25 is in any combination of the sunfishes — Bluegill, Pumpkinseed, Black and White Crappie, Rock Bass, Green, Longear and Redear Sunfish, Warmouth and hybrids — not 25 of each (FO-215.23A).

From FO-206.26 (eff. 2026-04-01) / FO-215.23A (eff. 2023-09-15) / FO-254.25 (eff. 2025-10-10), checked against the 2026 Michigan Fishing Regulations digest · verified 2026-08-24. Regulations can change — Michigan DNR rules are the controlling source; verify current regulations before fishing. Official regulations

Compiled from registered Master Angler catches. Silhouettes are stylized and scaled to typical adult sizes relative to one another. Presence is not a promise — fishing isn’t a sure thing.

Notable catches

Master Angler program · 1999–2001

Master Angler catches recorded on this lake — too few to show a pattern, so they are listed individually.

Channel Catfish30″ · 2001 · drift fishing · live chub
Crappie15″ · 1999 · spincasting · wax worm
Master Angler entries are fish that met the program’s minimum size and were registered by the angler — they show what this lake has produced, not what a day here will produce. A catch on record is history, not a species listing: “Fish you might catch” lists only species with current evidence. Source: Michigan DNR Master Angler data.

Non-native species records

No non-native species recorded in the available dataset. This does not confirm that no non-native species are present.

Source: Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership Conservation Planner; underlying nonindigenous species records from the USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species database.

At the lake

community-mapped amenities · straight-line distance
⛻ Campground≈1.3 mi
From OpenStreetMap community mapping — shown only where something is mapped; an amenity missing here may still exist. Distances are straight-line. Verify before you rely on it. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Quick answers

Clark Lake — common questions

How deep is Clark Lake?

The deepest contour on the Michigan DNR bathymetric survey of Clark Lake is 6 ft. That is the deepest depth the historical survey map records, which may differ from the deepest point of the lake itself.

How big is Clark Lake?

Clark Lake covers about 171 acres in Luce County, Michigan.

What is the average depth of Clark Lake?

The estimated mean depth of Clark Lake is 4.1 ft, calculated from the survey contours.

What fish are in Clark Lake?

Species with survey, catch or recent-stocking evidence include channel catfish, crappie. The page shows the evidence behind each.

Is there public access to Clark Lake?

No public launch for Clark Lake appears in the Michigan DNR access data. That is not the same as the lake being private -- municipal and private ramps are not in that source.