Lake Oakland Facts & History
Lake Oakland was formed by damming the Clinton River and Sashabaw Creek. The three deep basins in Lake Oakland were small lakes before the area behind the dam was flooded in the mid 1800s. Lake Oakland was mapped in the 1940's by the Michigan Department of Conservation (predecessor to our present day Department of Natural Resources). Updated hydro-acoustic mapping conducted by Progressive AE in 2018 indicates that the lake is 65 feet deep at its deepest point. Tree stumps from the days before the water level was raised can be seen in portions of the lake today, a testament to their longevity.
​
For an explanation of Lake Oakland's physical characteristics, click here.
Lake Surface Area 311 acres
Maximum Depth 65 feet
Mean Depth 10.8 feet
Lake Volume 3,364 acre-feet
Shoreline Length 10.5 miles
Shoreline Development Factor 4.2
Legal Lake Level 957.5 feet
Lake Oakland Physical Features
Lake Oakland is 378th largest inland lake in Michigan, based on data from the Michigan Geographic Data Library.
Approximately 75% of the lake is less than 10 feet deep. Thus, much of the lake is shallow enough to support aquatic plant growth.
Lake Oakland has a legal level of 957.5 feet above sea level established by circuit court order. The legal level is maintained by a dam at the southeast end of the lake.
The shoreline development factor indicates the degree of irregularity in the shape of the shoreline. That is, compared to a perfectly round lake with the same surface area as Lake Oakland (i.e., 311 acres), the shoreline of Lake Oakland is 4.2 times longer because of its irregular shape.
Hydro-Acoustic Mapping
At the 2018 public hearings, high-definition hydro-acoustic mapping of Lake Oakland was included in the current budget. In the fall of 2018, raw field data was collected and the resultant processed data was used to create the maps below, You can download each map by clicking on the images below.
2019 Lake Oakland Depth Contour Map
2018 Lake Oakland Vegetation Bio-Volume Map