Every Lake
Josephine Lake
64 acres, 47 feet deep, one mile of shoreline outside Tacoma, Washington
- 8 ft · first step
- 16 ft
- 23 ft
- 31 ft
- 39 ft
- 47 ft · bottom
About Josephine Lake
Josephine Lake sits in the Puget Sound lowlands near Tacoma, a stretch of terrain scoured and shaped by the ice sheets that covered the region until roughly 13,000 years ago. As the Vashon-era glaciers retreated, they left behind a scatter of small kettle lakes across Pierce County, filling shallow depressions where buried ice blocks melted out of the glacial till. Josephine Lake is one of that family: modest in size, set into rolling ground now built up with the suburbs and timber country that fill in the land between Tacoma and the foothills.
At 64 acres, Josephine Lake is small enough to see across end to end, with about a mile of shoreline that's mostly private homes and docks rather than public frontage. What sets it apart from other small lakes nearby is depth relative to size: a maximum of about 47 feet keeps a cold layer at the bottom through the summer, holding fish and water clarity that a shallower pond of the same acreage couldn't manage. It draws the kind of use a small residential lake typically does — rowboats and kayaks off private docks, quiet fishing mornings, no room or need for much else.
- 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.
Josephine Lake depth chart, in wood
This is a Josephine Lake depth chart you can hang: 6 stacked layers of birch, each one a depth contour — 8 ft, 16 ft, 23 ft, 31 ft, 39 ft and deeper, down to the deepest hole at about 47 ft. The lake covers about 0.1 square miles. The shape of the bottom is the real one from published soundings, so anglers recognise their drop-offs and points.
A Josephine 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 Josephine 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 Josephine Lake.
Josephine 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 Josephine Lake; the bigger boards carry more shoreline roads and place names.
Is it made from real depth data?
Yes. Josephine 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 47 ft
- 0.1 square miles of water
- Title block, compass rose and depth markers
- Birch plywood, keyhole hanger, made in Waterford, PA
