Every Lake
Lake Phelps
Second-largest natural lake in North Carolina, its bottom holding dugout canoes some 4,000 years old.
- 53 ft · first step
- 106 ft
- 159 ft
- 212 ft
- 265 ft
- 318 ft · bottom
About Lake Phelps
Lake Phelps sits inside Pettigrew State Park in Washington and Tyrrell counties, near Creswell, North Carolina. It is a Carolina bay, one of thousands of shallow, elliptical depressions scattered across the coastal plain, though geologists still debate how they formed. At roughly 15,585 acres, it ranks as the second-largest natural lake in North Carolina, after Lake Mattamuskeet. The lake has no natural inlet or outlet; it fills entirely from rainfall and groundwater. Its shoreline, close to 19 miles around, remains largely undeveloped, bordered by pocosin wetland and pine forest inside the state park boundary.
Divers began recovering dugout canoes from the lake bottom in 1985, eventually documenting more than thirty vessels, some carbon-dated to around 2400 BC, among the largest known collections of prehistoric canoes in North America. The shore also holds Somerset Place, a nineteenth-century plantation whose enslaved laborers dug a six-mile canal connecting the lake to the Scuppernong River. Today the park draws paddlers, anglers, and campers rather than motorboats; a swimming beach and wildlife trail line the southern shore. Creswell and Columbia, both small and rural, sit a short drive from the park entrance.
- 2 shore towns named, with a star on each
- 19 roads engraved around the shore, 2 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.
Lake Phelps depth chart, in wood
This is a Lake Phelps depth chart you can hang: 6 stacked layers of birch, each one a depth contour — 53 ft, 106 ft, 159 ft, 212 ft, 265 ft and deeper, down to the deepest hole at about 318 ft. The lake covers about 24.6 square miles, and 19 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 Lake Phelps 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 Phelps 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 Phelps.
Lake Phelps 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 Phelps; the bigger boards carry more shoreline roads and place names.
Is it made from real depth data?
Yes. Lake Phelps 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 318 ft
- 24.6 square miles of water
- 19 shore roads engraved, 2 named
- Title block, compass rose and depth markers
- Birch plywood, keyhole hanger, made in Waterford, PA
