Every Lake
Lake Hemet
A concrete dam raised in 1895 turned a Garner Valley creek into 361 acres of trout water.
- 3 ft · first step
- 6 ft
- 9 ft
- 12 ft
- 15 ft
- 18 ft · bottom
About Lake Hemet
Hemet Dam was completed in 1895 by the Lake Hemet Water Company, backing up a fork of the San Jacinto River in Garner Valley to irrigate citrus and grain fields on the valley floor below. Engineers raised the dam again in 1923, enlarging the reservoir behind it. Sitting at roughly 4,340 feet in the San Jacinto Mountains, the lake has functioned since as agricultural storage first and a recreation site second, its water level shifting with snowpack and downstream demand rather than staying fixed for boating or fishing schedules.
The lake sits a few miles south of Idyllwild and Mountain Center, small mountain towns reached by Highway 74 as it climbs out of the Hemet valley. A campground and boat launch on its shore draw anglers after trout, catfish, and bass, along with families camping through summer weekends. At a maximum depth of about 18 feet across 361 acres, the lake is wide and shallow rather than deep, more a broad sheet of water pressed into a mountain valley than a plunging alpine basin.
- 6 depth layers, each step engraved with its depth in feet
- Compass rose, title block with coordinates, max depth and area; keyhole hanger on the back
Turn it in your hands
Live 3D of the actual cut files — drag to orbit, pinch to zoom. Every road you see is engraved on the real thing.
Viewer not showing? Open it full screen.
Lake Hemet depth chart, in wood
This is a Lake Hemet depth chart you can hang: 6 stacked layers of birch, each one a depth contour — 3 ft, 6 ft, 9 ft, 12 ft, 15 ft and deeper, down to the deepest hole at about 18 ft. The lake covers about 0.6 square miles. The shape of the bottom is the real one from published soundings, so anglers recognise their drop-offs and points.
A Lake Hemet map for the wall — or a gift
Most of these go to a cabin wall, a lake house entry, or a home office; a lot are gifts — the family that has been on Lake Hemet for three generations, the retirement move, the first boat. The 12-inch is the desk-and-shelf size; the 24- and 30-inch boards read across a room. Add a line under the title and star your place on the shore, and it becomes the map of your Lake Hemet.
Lake Hemet map — the details
How big is the map?
Four sizes: 12, 17, 24 and 30 inches on the long side, from $149. Every size is cut from the same depth data of Lake Hemet; the bigger boards carry more shoreline roads and place names.
Is it made from real depth data?
Yes. Lake Hemet is cut layer by layer from published bathymetric soundings — each layer of birch is a depth contour, so the shape of the bottom is the real one, not decorative.
Can I add my own place on it?
Yes. At checkout you can add a line under the title (a family name, a cabin name, a year) and star the spot on the shore that matters to you.
How long does it take?
Made to order in Waterford, Pennsylvania and shipped in 7–10 days; shipping is free in the lower 48.
Can you make a lake that isn't listed?
Any lake in the United States — we hold depth data for 104,419 of them. Search for yours; if it isn't built yet we build it when you order.
- 6 depth layers down to 18 ft
- 0.6 square miles of water
- Title block, compass rose and depth markers
- Birch plywood, keyhole hanger, made in Waterford, PA
