Mullett Lake
Surface Area: 17360 acres (27 square miles)
Maximum Length: 10 miles
Maximum Width: ~4 miles
Maximum Depth: 145 feet
Average Depth: 37 feet
Volume: 200 billion gallons
Shoreline: 28 miles
Mullet Lake is a large, deep, high quality lake. It is part of northeast Michigan’s Inland Waterway and is the state’s fifth largest lake, with a surface area of 16,630 acres. It is a productive lake and is considered to be mesotrophic. The Mullet Lake Watershed encompasses over 162,000 acres and is mostly located in Cheboygan County. Tributaries of Mullett Lake include: Indian River, Little Sturgeon, Mullet Creek and East Little Pigeon. Mullett Lake lies with six townships: Aloha, Benton, Inverness, Koehler, Mullett, and Tuscarora, and is under the auspices of the Cheboygan County Zoning Ordinance and is easily accessible by Interstate 75. There are two Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) public access sites on the lake, along with several marinas.
Mullett Lake is used primarily for recreational aesthetics. The population around Mullett Lake can increase by three-fold with tourists looking to the water for entertainment. Activities include but are certainly not limited to: fishing, boating, kayaking, canoeing and swimming. The local area is supported by the heavy tourism but the increasing population can result in negative affects upon the water quality.
Mullett Lake is a very deep lake with 200 billion gallons within its basin and that helps dilute the chemicals and nutrients that pollute the water through run off or drainage. The increasing traffic, populations and pollution on Mullett Lake excels the eutrophication and promotes the growth of algae and degrades the water quality. Mullett Lake currently is a healthy body of water with good water quality and should continue to serve the stakeholders and tourism of the area with responsible management.