Every Lake
Pere Marquette Lake
Named for a Jesuit missionary who died near its mouth in 1675, before Ludington existed.
- 5 ft · first step
- 11 ft
- 16 ft
- 21 ft
- 27 ft
- 32 ft · bottom
About Pere Marquette Lake
Pere Marquette Lake sits at the mouth of the Pere Marquette River, where the river widens into a drowned river-mouth basin before reaching Lake Michigan through a dredged channel at Ludington, in Mason County, Michigan. The lake takes its name from Father Jacques Marquette, the French Jesuit missionary and explorer who died near the river's mouth in May 1675 while returning from a mission trip along the Lake Michigan shore, decades before any settlement stood on its banks.
Ludington grew up along the lake's north shore as a 19th-century lumber port, and the harbor still handles Great Lakes freight traffic today. The lake and channel are also the home dock for the SS Badger, the coal-fired car ferry that has carried vehicles and passengers across Lake Michigan to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, since 1953. Marinas line the shore for salmon and steelhead anglers working the channel and river mouth, alongside sailors and cottage owners drawn to the lake's direct access to open Lake Michigan.
- 2 shore towns named, with a star on each
- 116 roads engraved around the shore, 18 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.
Pere Marquette Lake depth chart, in wood
This is a Pere Marquette Lake depth chart you can hang: 6 stacked layers of birch, each one a depth contour — 5 ft, 11 ft, 16 ft, 21 ft, 27 ft and deeper, down to the deepest hole at about 32 ft. The lake covers about 0.9 square miles, and 116 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 Pere Marquette 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 Pere Marquette 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 Pere Marquette Lake.
Pere Marquette 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 Pere Marquette Lake; the bigger boards carry more shoreline roads and place names.
Is it made from real depth data?
Yes. Pere Marquette 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 32 ft
- 0.9 square miles of water
- 116 shore roads engraved, 18 named
- Title block, compass rose and depth markers
- Birch plywood, keyhole hanger, made in Waterford, PA
