Every Lake
Loon Lake
A SMUD reservoir on Gerle Creek, 6,400 feet up, where afternoon wind built a sailing following.
- 21 ft · first step
- 43 ft
- 65 ft
- 86 ft
- 107 ft
- 129 ft · bottom
About Loon Lake
Loon Lake sits in the Crystal Basin Recreation Area of the Eldorado National Forest, at roughly 6,400 feet in the Sierra Nevada. The lake is a reservoir, formed when the Sacramento Municipal Utility District dammed Gerle Creek as part of the Upper American River hydroelectric project. Water levels rise and fall with the utility's power generation schedule, exposing granite shoreline by late summer. The access road, Wentworth Springs Road, is seasonal, closing with the first heavy snow and reopening in early summer once crews clear the route up from Riverton and Kyburz off Highway 50.
Afternoon winds funnel across the exposed granite basin with enough consistency that sailors and windsurfers treat Loon Lake as a regional destination, arriving from Sacramento and the Bay Area on summer weekends. The lake covers about 1,151 acres with roughly 9 miles of shoreline and reaches a maximum depth near 129 feet, deep for its footprint and cold even in July from Sierra snowmelt. Its western arm feeds trailheads into the Desolation Wilderness and the Rockbound Valley, drawing backpackers who camp at the lake before continuing on foot.
- 5 roads engraved around the shore, 1 of them labeled
- 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.
Loon Lake depth chart, in wood
This is a Loon Lake depth chart you can hang: 6 stacked layers of birch, each one a depth contour. The lake covers about 1.9 square miles, and 5 shore roads are engraved around it. The shape of the bottom comes from a peer-reviewed bathymetry model of the lake.
A Loon Lake 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 Loon Lake 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 Loon Lake.
Loon Lake 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 Loon Lake; the bigger boards carry more shoreline roads and place names.
Is it made from real depth data?
Yes — from GLOBathy, a peer-reviewed bathymetry dataset that estimates the bottom of every lake from its shoreline and surrounding terrain. Each layer of birch is a depth contour. Where a lake has a published sounding survey we use that instead, and we are adding surveys lake by lake.
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
- 1.9 square miles of water
- 5 shore roads engraved, 1 named
- Title block, compass rose and depth markers
- Birch plywood, keyhole hanger, made in Waterford, PA
Keep reading
Guides from the people who cut these maps.
- Lake House Gifts That Actually Mean SomethingThoughtful lake house gifts and cabin gift ideas for Christmas: what lake people actually keep, how to choose a size, and how to word a personal line.
- Gifts for Fishermen Who Already Own Every LureUnique fishing gifts for the angler who has everything: a layered wood depth map of the lake they fish, with the structure they know by heart.
- Deepest Lakes in Michigan: Surveyed Depths and What Lies BelowWhich inland lakes in Michigan run deepest? Surveyed depths for Crystal, Mullett, Glen, Charlevoix and more, and how depth shapes color, fish and ice.
