MI · ranked by public data

The 25 Biggest Lakes in Michigan

The biggest inland lakes in Michigan, ranked by surface acres from the Michigan DNR's GIS lake polygons — the state's own hydrography, computed consistently for every lake. The Great Lakes are excluded; this list is inland water only.

186 Michigan lakes cover at least 500 state-mapped acres.

186lakes cover at least 500 state-mapped acres

Houghton Lake#1 at 20,075 acres

Mackinac Countymost qualifying lakes (7)

Methodology

How we rank Michigan's biggest lakes

Ranked by GIS-computed surface acres from Michigan DNR lake polygons — one consistent state source for every lake, which can differ modestly from older published figures.
The Great Lakes are excluded — this list ranks inland lakes.
Lakes whose mapped polygon could not be confidently matched are excluded rather than guessed.
Lakes under 50 acres are excluded from rankings.
Public access inventories are not yet tracked for Michigan, so access is never shown or ranked here.

Every number on this page comes from the same public agency records that power each lake's profile, and the list is recomputed as that data updates — it cannot silently go stale the way a hand-written top-10 does.

The ranking

Michigan's biggest lakes, ranked

120,075 ac
20,075 acres
Roscommon County, MI
Houghton Lake
limitedDepth map
44.34, -84.7220,075 acres | 21 ft max0 public access pointsSpecies pending
20,075 acres · 21 ft max depth
218,722 ac
18,722 acres
Antrim County, MI
Torch Lake
limitedDepth map
44.97, -85.3118,722 acres | 250 ft max0 public access pointsSpecies pending
18,722 acres · 250 ft max depth
317,395 ac
17,395 acres
Cheboygan County, MI
Burt Lake
limitedDepth map
45.47, -84.6717,395 acres | 73 ft max0 public access pointsSpecies pending
17,395 acres · 73 ft max depth
417,268 ac
17,268 acres
Charlevoix County, MI
Lake Charlevoix
limitedDepth map
45.25, -85.0817,268 acres | 122 ft max0 public access pointsSpecies pending
17,268 acres · 122 ft max depth
516,704 ac
16,704 acres
Cheboygan County, MI
Mullett Lake
limited
45.51, -84.5316,704 acres0 public access pointsSpecies pending
16,704 acres
613,127 ac
13,127 acres
Gogebic County, MI
Lake Gogebic
limitedDepth map
46.50, -89.5713,127 acres | 35 ft max0 public access pointsSpecies pending
13,127 acres · 35 ft max depth
710,808 ac
10,808 acres
Houghton County, MI
Portage Lake
limited
47.07, -88.5010,808 acres0 public access pointsSpecies pending
10,808 acres
810,346 ac
10,346 acres
Mackinac County, MI
Manistique Lake
limitedDepth map
46.24, -85.7810,346 acres | 20 ft max0 public access pointsSpecies pending
10,346 acres · 20 ft max depth
910,186 ac
10,186 acres
Roscommon County, MI
Higgins Lake
limitedDepth map
44.47, -84.7210,186 acres | 130 ft max0 public access pointsSpecies pending
10,186 acres · 130 ft max depth
1010,113 ac
10,113 acres
Cheboygan County, MI
Black Lake
limitedDepth map
45.46, -84.2710,113 acres | 50 ft max0 public access pointsSpecies pending
10,113 acres · 50 ft max depth

Rank	Lake	County	Acres	Max depth
11	Crystal Lake	Benzie	9,869 ac	175 ft
12	Hubbard Lake	Alcona	8,768 ac	80 ft
13	Indian Lake	Schoolcraft	8,647 ac	—
14	Elk Lake	Antrim	8,195 ac	150 ft
15	Fletcher Pond	Alpena	6,819 ac	8 ft
16	Grand Lake	Presque Isle	5,822 ac	—
17	Lake Leelanau	Leelanau	5,693 ac	62 ft
18	Long Lake	Alpena	5,342 ac	25 ft
19	Glen Lake	Leelanau	4,871 ac	130 ft
20	Hamlin Lake	Mason	4,622 ac	65 ft
21	Walloon Lake	Charlevoix	4,567 ac	100 ft
22	Brevoort Lake	Mackinac	4,315 ac	—
23	Lake Michigamme	Marquette	4,292 ac	—
24	Muskegon Lake	Muskegon	4,232 ac	—
25	South Manistique Lake	Mackinac	4,133 ac	29 ft

By county

Biggest lakes by county

Mackinac County (7)

Manistique Lake · 10,346 ac

Emmet County (6)

Crooked Lake · 2,352 ac

Gogebic County (6)

Lake Gogebic · 13,127 ac

Oakland County (6)

Cass Lake · 1,279 ac

Alpena County (5)

Fletcher Pond · 6,819 ac

Benzie County (5)

Crystal Lake · 9,869 ac

Cheboygan County (5)

Burt Lake · 17,395 ac

Grand Traverse County (5)

Long Lake · 2,911 ac

Houghton County (5)

Portage Lake · 10,808 ac

Iosco County (5)

Foote Dam Pond · 1,695 ac

Iron County (5)

Peavy Pond · 2,347 ac

Jackson County (5)

Center Lake · 847 ac

FAQ

Michigan lake records FAQ

What is the biggest lake in Michigan?

Houghton Lake — Houghton Lake in Roscommon County is the biggest inland lake in Michigan by Michigan DNR GIS acreage, at 20,075 acres.

How many Michigan lakes cover at least 500 state-mapped acres?

186 Michigan lakes currently cover at least 500 state-mapped acresin LakeList's aggregation of public DNR records.

Where do these numbers come from?

Every figure is drawn from public agency data — Michigan DNR GIS lake polygons (GIS-computed surface acres, keyed to the state's lake inventory) — as aggregated by LakeList. Each lake links to a full profile showing the underlying records.

Deepest lakes Best lakes by species All Michigan lakes

Source data: Michigan DNR GIS lake polygons as aggregated by LakeList. GIS-computed acres can differ modestly from older published figures.Lake outlines are shoreline shapes from LakeList and the USGS National Hydrography Dataset; they illustrate a lake's form and are not depth or navigation charts.