Sandy Lake

Houghton County, Michigan · MI DNR bathymetric survey

21ft Max
depth

104 acres 6 contours Public access 23% weedy

Paddling Index82Very Goodaway from major roads · sheltered geometry · wooded shoreline

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Depth scale

0457101521

The lake

Survey readout

Sandy Lake is mapped to a depth of 21 ft on the Michigan DNR survey and covers about 104 acres in Houghton County, Michigan.

Measured from the Michigan DNR inland-lake contour survey.

Deepest sounding: 21 ft
Mean depth: 4.1 ft · estimated
Surface area: 104 acres
Estimated volume: 429 acre-ft · 140M gal
Shoreline: 2.63 mi · irregular
Aquatic vegetation: 23% of surface · NDVI estimate
Public access: Boat Launch

Additional depth details6 contours

Contour depths: 0–21 ft
Recorded point soundings: 21 ft, 7 ft, 7 ft

96.1% 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 Depth, area and volume are estimated from the interpolated survey surface — historical reference, not measurement.

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Location

Houghton County, Michigan · 15 nearest of 32 lakes · tap a dot for that lake

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: 46.84984, -88.86971
MI DNR lake ID: L37252
Vertical exaggeration: 2.97×
Basemap: USDA NAIP · public domain
Model size: 2.4 MB

Paddling

Paddling Index methodology v1.0 · calculated 2026-08-21

82 / 100Very GoodData confidence: High

Sandy Lake has a heavily wooded and largely undeveloped setting, well 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

Component	Rating	Points of weight	Measurement
Natural setting	Excellent	25.7 of 30	87% natural land cover within 150 m of shore (58% forest, 26% wetland; 11% developed)
Geometric wind exposure	Excellent	21.9 of 25	mean fetch 570 m · 21% of sampled water within 500 m of shelter · short fetch in most directions
Watercraft controls	None identified	7.5 of 15	No special watercraft restriction identified in the current DNR source. Motors permitted, subject to general law.
Public access	Good	12.8 of 15	1 site with DNR boating-facility records · 1 ramp lane · 5 trailer spaces
Road isolation	Excellent	14.4 of 15	relatively isolated from major roads · 3 MDOT-classified segments within 1.2 km, peak 43 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: Moderate — approximately 23% 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 — 58% forest and 26% wetland cover within 150 m of shore

Compare Michigan lakes by Paddling Index →

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 & active stocking

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

Bluegill

Historically stocked, no recent evidence: Walleye (last planted 2003) — not shown above.

Fishing rules for this lake Beta

Size and daily limits for the 1 species found here — 1 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.

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.

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 stockings within the last 10 years. 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 · 2009

One Master Angler catch is on record for this lake: 10.5″ bluegill in 2009.

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.

DNR stocking

state stocking record · 1999–2003

Fish the Michigan DNR has planted in this lake — what was added, distinct from what a survey netted above.

Walleye14,697 stocked · 1999–2003 · 3 plantings

No stockings recorded since 2003 — shown as history.

Source: Michigan DNR Fish Stocking Database.

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≈0.4 mi

🚿 Restrooms / vault toileton the lake · 2 mapped

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

Sandy Lake — common questions

How deep is Sandy Lake?

The deepest contour on the Michigan DNR bathymetric survey of Sandy Lake is 21 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 Sandy Lake?

Sandy Lake covers about 104 acres in Houghton County, Michigan.

What is the average depth of Sandy Lake?

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

What fish are in Sandy Lake?

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

Is there public access to Sandy Lake?

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