WI · ranked by public data
Wisconsin's deepest water is a matter of public record, not blog lore. Every depth on this list is the documented maximum from DNR lake records — the same figure on the lake's survey sheet — and every entry links to a full profile with access points and depth maps where available.
372 Wisconsin lakes are at least 50 acres with a documented maximum depth of at least 40 feet. Updated July 2026.
Methodology
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
Green Lake County, WI
236 ft maximum depth · 7,920 acres · 8 public landings · DNR impairment listed
Walworth County, WI
135 ft maximum depth · 5,401 acres · 6 public landings
Sheboygan County, WI
119 ft maximum depth · 292 acres · 1 public landing · DNR impairment listed
Vilas County, WI
117 ft maximum depth · 3,864 acres · 4 public landings
Barron County, WI
106 ft maximum depth · 1,163 acres · 6 public landings
Rusk County, WI
106 ft maximum depth · 256 acres · No verified public access · DNR impairment listed
Washington County, WI
105 ft maximum depth · 937 acres · 3 public landings
Sawyer County, WI
105 ft maximum depth · 800 acres · 1 public landing
Bayfield County, WI
105 ft maximum depth · 96 acres · 1 public landing
Vilas County, WI
103 ft maximum depth · 1,165 acres · 2 public landings
| Rank | Lake | County | Max depth | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Whitefish Lake | Douglas | 102 ft | 848 | 1 landing |
| 12 | Lower Pine Lake | Polk | 102 ft | 96 | 1 landing |
| 13 | Sand Lakeimpaired | Chippewa | 100 ft | 272 | 1 landing |
| 14 | Little Trout Lake | Vilas | 98 ft | 1,007 | 1 landing |
| 15 | Lake Owen | Bayfield | 95 ft | 1,250 | 2 landings |
| 16 | Clear Lake | Oneida | 95 ft | 873 | — |
| 17 | Rainbow Lake | Waupaca | 95 ft | 207 | — |
| 18 | Lake Chippewa | Sawyer | 92 ft | 14,593 | 6 landings |
| 19 | Upper Eau Claire Lake | Bayfield | 92 ft | 1,024 | 1 landing |
| 20 | Jordan Lake | Adams | 92 ft | 233 | 1 landing |
| 21 | Silver Lakeimpaired | Barron | 91 ft | 331 | 1 landing |
| 22 | Lac Courte Oreilles | Sawyer | 90 ft | 5,139 | 3 landings |
| 23 | Okauchee Lake | Waukesha | 90 ft | 1,210 | 2 landings |
| 24 | Nagawicka Lake | Waukesha | 90 ft | 981 | 1 landing |
| 25 | Long Lake | Vilas | 88 ft | 886 | 2 landings |
By county
FAQ
Green Lake — Green Lake in Green Lake County is the deepest documented lake in Wisconsin, at 236 feet maximum depth.
372 Wisconsin lakes currently are at least 50 acres with a documented maximum depth of at least 40 feetin LakeList's aggregation of public DNR records.
Every figure is drawn from public agency data — Wisconsin DNR lake records and monitoring programs — as aggregated by LakeList. Nothing on this list is estimated or crowd-sourced, and each lake links to a full profile showing the underlying records.
Source data: Wisconsin DNR lake and monitoring records as aggregated by LakeList. Figures reflect the most recent documented values, not new surveys, and conditions change — verify access and rules before you go. 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.