Every Lake
Cedar Lake
Six miles of shoreline forty-five minutes from downtown Chicago
- 8 ft · first step
- 16 ft
- 24 ft
- 32 ft
- 40 ft
- 48 ft · bottom
About Cedar Lake
Cedar Lake sits in Lake County, Indiana, a natural lake a few miles northwest of Gary near the Illinois state line. In the late 1800s the Monon Railroad ran excursion trains from Chicago straight to its shore, and the town grew up around that traffic — hotels, dance halls, and summer cottages built for city visitors escaping the heat. For a stretch of decades it was one of the busiest resort lakes in the Midwest, reachable by rail before most people owned cars.
The resort era faded through the twentieth century as travel patterns shifted and many of the old hotels closed or burned, and the shoreline gradually filled in with year-round homes. Cedar Lake is now a residential lake town of roughly 6 miles of shoreline, popular for bass and panfish, with a public beach and boat launches that still draw day-trippers up from the Chicago suburbs. The lake bed sits in a shallow basin, wide and open rather than deep, which keeps it warm and fishable most of the summer.
- 184 roads engraved around the shore, 11 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.
Cedar Lake depth chart, in wood
This is a Cedar Lake depth chart you can hang: 6 stacked layers of birch, each one a depth contour — 8 ft, 16 ft, 24 ft, 32 ft, 40 ft and deeper, down to the deepest hole at about 48 ft. The lake covers about 1.2 square miles, and 184 shore roads are engraved around it. The shape of the bottom is the real one from published soundings, so anglers recognise their drop-offs and points.
A Cedar 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 Cedar 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 Cedar Lake.
Cedar 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 Cedar Lake; the bigger boards carry more shoreline roads and place names.
Is it made from real depth data?
Yes. Cedar Lake 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 48 ft
- 1.2 square miles of water
- 184 shore roads engraved, 11 named
- Title block, compass rose and depth markers
- Birch plywood, keyhole hanger, made in Waterford, PA
