Douglas Lake (Cheboygan County)

Few lakes have been as well studied as Douglas Lake in northwest Cheboygan County. Home of the University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS), Douglas Lake has seen its fair share of Secchi discs, thermometers, graduate students, and stunning research publications. The lake has taught and inspired a multitude of students on subjects that range from limnology to ethnobotany. 

With over 3,700 acres of surface area, Douglas Lake is ranked the 28th largest lake in Michigan. After the last glaciers retreated some 14,000 years ago, a scattering of enormous ice chunk remnants formed the lake’s seven distinct basins. The deep basins are separated by shallow shoals of less than 15 feet of depth, most of which are heavily vegetated with a diverse assemblage of aquatic plants. The deep basins, the deepest of which reaches 80 feet, contain little to no vegetation. The Biological Station property includes the entire eastern lake shoreline as well as a portion of the north shore and much of the southern shore. The remainder, including Pells Island, is largely privately owned.

Water flows into Douglas Lake from a handful of small creeks, the largest being Bessey Creek on the west end of the north shore and Beavertail Creek in the northeast corner of the lake. Water flows out of Douglas Lake in the southwest corner, forming the East Branch of the Maple River. The high quality water flowing out of Douglas Lake contributes to an expansive network of lakes and streams called the Inland Water Route, which is ecologically and economically important due to recreational use, transportation, and the diverse and healthy aquatic ecosystems. The Maple River empties into Burt Lake and continues onward through the Inland Water Route until flowing into Lake Huron at the City of Cheboygan. The endangered Hungerford’s Crawling Water Beetle is found in the East Branch of the Maple River.