Burt Lake is a 17,120 acre (69 km²) lake

Lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

 in Cheboygan County

Cheboygan County, Michigan

-Commercial Airline:There are no commercial airline airports in Cheboygan County but the nearest ones are Alpena County Regional Airport, Chippewa County International Airport , and Cherry Capital Airport...

 in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

. The western shore of the lake is on the boundary with Emmet County

Emmet County, Michigan

Emmet County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the population was 31,437. The county seat is Petoskey.The county was formed April 1, 1840, from Mackinac County. It was first named Tonedagana County and renamed Emmet County on March 8, 1843...

. The lake is named after William Austin Burt

William Austin Burt

William Austin Burt was an American inventor, legislator, surveyor, and millwright. He was the inventor, maker and patentee of the first typewriter constructed in America...

, who, together with John Mullett, made a federal survey of the area from 1840 to 1843.

The lake is approximately 10 miles (16 km) long from north to south, about 5 miles (8 km) at its widest, and 73 feet (22 m) at its deepest. Major inflows to the lake are the Maple River, which connects with nearby Douglas Lake

Douglas Lake

Douglas Lake, also called Douglas Reservoir, is a reservoir created by an impoundment of the French Broad River in Eastern Tennessee. This lake is located only a few miles from the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area, and also the Great Smoky Mountains National Park...

, the Crooked River

Crooked River (Michigan)

The Crooked River is a river in Emmet and Cheboygan counties in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is short stream, less than long, flowing northeast from Crooked Lake at near Alanson into Burt Lake at . It forms part of the Inland Waterway of Michigan....

, which connects with nearby Crooked Lake, and the Sturgeon River

Sturgeon River

- In Canada :*Sturgeon River , which flows into the North Saskatchewan River northeast of Fort Saskatchewan*Sturgeon River in northern Manitoba and Ontario...

 which enters the lake near the point where the Indian River

Indian River (Mullett Lake)

Indian River in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan is a short waterway in Cheboygan County that flows from Burt Lake at to Mullett Lake at...

 flows out of the lake into nearby Mullett Lake

Mullett Lake

Mullett Lake is a lake in Cheboygan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The lake is named after John Mullett, who, together with William A. Burt, made a federal survey of the area from 1840 to 1843. A neighboring lake was named after Burt. Historically, Mullett Lake has been recorded as Mullet...

.

The lake is part of the great Inland Waterway

Inland Waterway (Michigan)

The Inland Waterway or Inland Water Route is a series of rivers and lakes in the U.S. state of Michigan. With only a short portage, it forms a navigable route for small craft connecting Lake Huron and Lake Michigan across the Northern Michigan region....

, by which one can boat from Crooked Lake several miles (km) east of Petoskey

Petoskey, Michigan

Petoskey is a city and coastal resort community in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 6,080. It is the county seat of Emmet County....

 on the Little Traverse Bay

Little Traverse Bay

Little Traverse Bay is a small bay, 170 feet deep, off Lake Michigan in the northern area of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Harbor Springs and Petoskey are on this bay.The Little Traverse Light marks its entrance....

 of Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...

 across the northern tip of the lower peninsula's

Lower Peninsula of Michigan

The Lower Peninsula of Michigan is the southern of the two major landmasses of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is surrounded by water on all sides except its southern border, which it shares with Ohio and Indiana. Geographically, the Lower Peninsula has a recognizable shape that many people...

 so-called mitten to Cheboygan

Cheboygan, Michigan

Cheboygan is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 5,295. It is the county seat of Cheboygan County....

 on Lake Huron

Lake Huron

Lake Huron is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrologically, it comprises the larger portion of Lake Michigan-Huron. It is bounded on the east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the west by the state of Michigan in the United States...

. Along with nearby Mullett Lake

Mullett Lake

Mullett Lake is a lake in Cheboygan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The lake is named after John Mullett, who, together with William A. Burt, made a federal survey of the area from 1840 to 1843. A neighboring lake was named after Burt. Historically, Mullett Lake has been recorded as Mullet...

 and Black Lake

Black Lake (Michigan)

Black Lake is located in Cheboygan and Presque Isle counties in Northern Michigan. With a surface area of 10,130 acres , it is the seventh largest inland lake in Michigan. The largest body of water in the Black River watershed, it drains through the Lower Black and Cheboygan Rivers into Lake Huron...

, it is noted for its population of Lake Sturgeon

Lake sturgeon

The lake sturgeon is a North American temperate freshwater fish, one of about 20 species of sturgeon. Like other sturgeons, this species is an evolutionarily ancient bottomfeeder with a partly cartilaginous skeleton and skin bearing rows of bony plates...

, which briefly held the record of largest sturgeon caught in the USA.

YMCA Camp Al-Gon-Quian and Burt Lake State Park

Burt Lake State Park

Burt Lake State Park is a state park in Cheboygan County, Michigan on the southeast corner of Burt Lake. The park has approximately a 2000 feet of sandy shoreline.Visitors enjoy camping, boating, fishing, wildlife viewing and other activities...

 are both located on the southern shore of the lake. The unincorporated community of Burt Lake is on the southwest shore on M-68

M-68 (Michigan highway)

M-68 is an east–west state trunkline highway located in the northern part of the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. The western terminus of the highway begins four miles east of the Little Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan and ends a few blocks from Lake Huron in Rogers City...

. Interstate 75

Interstate 75

Interstate 75 is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. It travels from State Road 826 and State Road 924 in Hialeah, Florida to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, at the Ontario, Canada, border...

 passes to the east of the lake, with two interchanges near the south end of the lake at the unincorporated community of Indian River

Indian River, Michigan

Indian River is an unincorporated community in Cheboygan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a census-designated place for statistical purposes and is not legally recognized as a municipality. The population was 2,008 at the 2000 census....

.