The largest inland lakes in Michigan, by the area of the state’s own outlines, are Houghton Lake in Roscommon County (20,075 acres), Torch Lake in Antrim County (18,722 acres), Burt Lake in Cheboygan County (17,395 acres), Lake Charlevoix in Charlevoix County (17,268 acres) and Mullett Lake in Cheboygan County (16,704 acres). Ten lakes cover 10,000 acres or more, and 98 cover 1,000 acres or more.
Source: Michigan DNR hydrography, Lake Polygons layer (Michigan GIS Open Data), fetched 26 Oct 2026. Acres as the state computes them from each outline.
The 25 largest, in order. “Deepest” is the lake’s measured deepest point from Michigan DNR lake surveys; it is empty where the DNR has no measured depth. Of the 25, 19 have a lake page on this site, linked by name. Fletcher Pond and Michigamme Reservoir carry the name of a pond or reservoir; the state layer does not say which lakes are natural and which are held by a dam, so all rank together.
| Lake | Acres | Sq mi | Deepest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Houghton Lake Roscommon County | 20,075 | 31.4 | 21 ft |
| Torch Lake Antrim County | 18,722 | 29.3 | 250 ft |
| Burt Lake Cheboygan County | 17,395 | 27.2 | 73 ft |
| Lake Charlevoix Charlevoix County | 17,268 | 27.0 | 122 ft |
| Mullett Lake Cheboygan County | 16,704 | 26.1 | 120 ft |
| Lake Gogebic Ontonagon County | 13,127 | 20.5 | 35 ft |
| Portage Lake Houghton County | 10,808 | 16.9 | |
| Manistique Lake Mackinac County | 10,346 | 16.2 | 20 ft |
| Higgins Lake Roscommon County | 10,186 | 15.9 | 130 ft |
| Black Lake Cheboygan County | 10,113 | 15.8 | 50 ft |
| Crystal Lake Benzie County | 9,869 | 15.4 | 175 ft |
| Hubbard Lake Alcona County | 8,768 | 13.7 | 80 ft |
| Indian Lake Schoolcraft County | 8,647 | 13.5 | |
| Elk Lake Grand Traverse County | 8,195 | 12.8 | 150 ft |
| Fletcher Pond Alpena County | 6,819 | 10.7 | 8 ft |
| Grand Lake Presque Isle County | 5,822 | 9.1 | 25 ft |
| Lake Leelanau Leelanau County | 5,693 | 8.9 | 62 ft |
| Long Lake Alpena County | 5,342 | 8.3 | 25 ft |
| Glen Lake Leelanau County | 4,871 | 7.6 | 130 ft |
| Michigamme Reservoir Iron County | 4,867 | 7.6 | |
| Hamlin Lake Mason County | 4,622 | 7.2 | 65 ft |
| Walloon Lake Charlevoix County | 4,567 | 7.1 | 100 ft |
| Lac Vieux Desert Gogebic County | 4,370 | 6.8 | 38 ft |
| Brevoort Lake Mackinac County | 4,315 | 6.7 | |
| Lake Michigamme Marquette County | 4,292 | 6.7 | 70 ft |
Source: Michigan DNR hydrography, Lake Polygons layer (Michigan GIS Open Data), fetched 26 Oct 2026. Deepest: Michigan DNR lake deep points (measured), fetched 26 Oct 2026.
The largest lake of 10 acres or more in each of Michigan’s 83 counties, largest first. In 3 counties the largest lake is under 100 acres.
| County | Largest lake | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Roscommon | Houghton Lake | 20,075 |
| Antrim | Torch Lake | 18,722 |
| Cheboygan | Burt Lake | 17,395 |
| Charlevoix | Lake Charlevoix | 17,268 |
| Ontonagon | Lake Gogebic | 13,127 |
| Houghton | Portage Lake | 10,808 |
| Mackinac | Manistique Lake | 10,346 |
| Benzie | Crystal Lake | 9,869 |
| Alcona | Hubbard Lake | 8,768 |
| Schoolcraft | Indian Lake | 8,647 |
| Grand Traverse | Elk Lake | 8,195 |
| Alpena | Fletcher Pond | 6,819 |
Source: Michigan DNR hydrography, Lake Polygons layer (Michigan GIS Open Data), fetched 26 Oct 2026. A lake is counted in the county the state record names.
Big lakes are few. Of the 6,463 Michigan lakes of 10 acres or more, the middle one covers 27 acres; 1,128 cover 100 acres or more, 159 a square mile (640 acres) or more, 18 cover 5,000 acres or more and 10 cover 10,000 acres or more. The ten largest lakes hold 17% of all the inland lake area on the state map.
Other lists give other acreages. The Michigan Lakes and Streams Association gives Houghton Lake 20,044 acres; the state outline measures 20,075, the figure Groves and Tyning also give in The Michigan Riparian (20,075). We print the outline’s figure because it is the one we can recount, and it is the figure on each lake page.
Source: Michigan DNR hydrography, Lake Polygons layer (Michigan GIS Open Data), fetched 26 Oct 2026. Michigan Lakes and Streams Association (mymlsa.org), read 26 Oct 2026.
Acreage is the area of the lake’s outline in Michigan DNR hydrography, the same outline drawn on our lake maps. It is a map figure, not a survey of today’s shoreline. The Great Lakes and Lake St. Clair are not in the state’s inland-lake layer and are not ranked. Each lake is listed under the one county the state record names for it.
How many lakes there are at each size is on the Michigan index and each county page.
Source: Michigan DNR hydrography, Lake Polygons layer (Michigan GIS Open Data), fetched 26 Oct 2026.