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Round Lake

Hillsdale County, Michigan · MI DNR bathymetric survey
30ft Max
depth
81 acres 4 contours Public access
Paddling Index63Mixedaway from major roads · sheltered geometry
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Depth scale

The lake

Survey readout

Round Lake is mapped to a depth of 30 ft on the Michigan DNR survey and covers about 81 acres in Hillsdale County, Michigan.

Measured from the Michigan DNR inland-lake contour survey (depths read from the survey's isobath field; this lake's summary-depth column is blank in the source).

Deepest mapped contour
30 ft
Mean depth
21.4 ft · estimated
Surface area
81 acres
Estimated volume
1,729 acre-ft · 564M gal
Shoreline
1.72 mi · lobed
Aquatic vegetation
5% of surface · NDVI estimate
Public access
Boat Launch
Additional depth details4 contours
Contour depths
0–30 ft
Recorded point soundings
30 ft

15.2% of the surface sits over water shallower than 10 ft; 67.5% is deeper than 20 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 Depth, area and volume are estimated from the interpolated survey surface — historical reference, not measurement.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
41.89691, -84.76959
MI DNR lake ID
L4643
Vertical exaggeration
2.66×
Basemap
USDA NAIP · public domain
Model size
2.2 MB

Paddling

Paddling Index methodology v1.0 · calculated 2026-08-21
63 / 100MixedData confidence: High

Round Lake has a mixed natural and developed setting, generally sheltered geometry, limited 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 settingMixed12.1 of 3050% natural land cover within 150 m of shore (18% forest, 33% wetland; 35% developed)
Geometric wind exposureVery Good20.6 of 25mean fetch 635 m · 14% of sampled water within 500 m of shelter · generally short fetch
Watercraft controlsNone identified7.5 of 15No special watercraft restriction identified in the current DNR source. Motors permitted, subject to general law.
Public accessGood12.8 of 151 site with DNR boating-facility records · 1 ramp lane · 3 trailer spaces
Road isolationVery Good9.7 of 15limited nearby major-road exposure · 12 MDOT-classified segments within 1.2 km, peak 1,714 vehicles/day

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
Low — approximately 5% 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
Moderate — 18% forest and 33% 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 Boating Access Sites (2026-08), 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 & DNR surveys

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

Largemouth Bass
Bullhead
Black Crappie
Crappie
Yellow Perch
Bluegill
Rock Bass
Warmouth
Pumpkinseed
Green Sunfish

Fishing rules for this lake Beta

Size and daily limits for the 10 species found here — 10 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.

Black 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).
BluegillOpen 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.
Black 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).
BluegillOpen 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).
BullheadOpen to harvestMinimum size: no size limit · Daily limit: no possession limit (2026 DNR digest · all other species)
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).
Green SunfishOpen 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).
Largemouth BassOpen to harvestMinimum size: 14" · Daily limit: 5 (FO-215 · statewide inland) The 5 is in any combination of Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass, not 5 of each (FO-215.23A).
PumpkinseedOpen 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).
Rock BassOpen 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).
WarmouthOpen 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).
Yellow PerchOpen to harvestMinimum size: no size limit · Daily limit: 25 (FO-215 · statewide inland)

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 and Michigan DNR fishery surveys. 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 · 1995–2025

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

Crappie14.5″ · 2025 · ice fishing · live bait
Bluegill10″ · 1995 · still fishing · crawler
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.

Fishery

291Fish sampled
10Species

Gamefish Largemouth Bass 6

Panfish Bluegill 153 · Yellow Perch 98 · Warmouth 18

All survey species9 species

Gamefish

Largemouth Bass6 caught

Panfish

Bluegill153 caught
Yellow Perch98 caught
Warmouth18 caught
Black Crappie6 caught
Pumpkinseed5 caught
Rock Bass1 caught
Green Sunfish1 caught

Forage & nongame

Bullhead3 caught
Stocking: It probably immigrated from Hemlock Lake, which has been stocked with rainbow trout since the mid-1950s.
This survey reported catch counts without lengths. Source: Michigan DNR Status of the Fishery Resource report (counts summed across survey years).

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).

Bait & tackle nearby

licensed retail bait dealers · straight-line distance
Long Lake Grocery Co. LLC≈1.8 mi9651 Bankers Rd, Reading · Google · Apple
Sand Lake Party Store≈4.3 mi1020 S Bunn Rd, Hillsdale · Google · Apple
Cottonwood Resort Inc≈6.7 mi219 Wildwood Beach Rd, Quincy · Google · Apple
Dealers licensed by the Michigan DNR to sell live bait; listing is not an endorsement. Distances are straight-line, not driving — and call ahead: hours and stock change. Source: Michigan DNR retail bait dealer data.
Quick answers

Round Lake — common questions

How deep is Round Lake?

The deepest contour on the Michigan DNR bathymetric survey of Round Lake is 30 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 Round Lake?

Round Lake covers about 81 acres in Hillsdale County, Michigan.

What is the average depth of Round Lake?

The estimated mean depth of Round Lake is 21.4 ft, calculated from the survey contours.

What fish are in Round Lake?

Species with survey, catch or recent-stocking evidence include largemouth bass, black crappie, bluegill, bullhead, crappie, green sunfish. The page lists all 10 species and the evidence behind each.

Is there public access to Round Lake?

Yes. The Michigan DNR boat-launch data identifies 1 public access site on Round Lake, including Round Lake.