Deception Lake
60 ft
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Depth scale
Survey readout
Deception Lake is mapped to a depth of 18.3 m (60 ft) on the Ontario MNRF survey and covers about 22 ha (56 acres) in Thunder Bay District, Ontario. Depths come from the Ontario MNRF survey of 1974.
Measured from the Ontario MNRF bathymetry survey.
- Deepest mapped contour
- 18.3 m (60 ft)
- Survey year
- 1974
- Surface area
- 22 ha (56 acres)
- Shoreline
- 2.6 km (1.6 mi) · irregular
- Fishing access
- No MNRF fishing access point listed within 100 m (the list is incomplete)
Additional depth details9 contours
- Contour depths
- 0–18.3 m (60 ft)
- Deep-spot markers
- 18.3 m (60 ft)
Provenance
Sources: Ontario MNRF / LIO Bathymetry, Ontario FRI Leaf-On Imagery, Ontario FRI LiDAR DTM, OpenStreetMap (ODbL), Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario.
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Map details & sources5 sources
All layers registered to one bounding box; positions in WGS 84.
Survey-derived depth contours drape over Ontario LiDAR (FRI DTM) elevation, with a Ontario FRI aerial basemap and OpenStreetMap shoreline. Colour shows surveyed depth; dark lines are the survey's own isobaths.
- Coordinates
- 48.62379, -88.74723
- MNRF lake ID
- 16-3712-53869
- Vertical exaggeration
- 1.64×
- Basemap
- Ontario FRI
- Model size
- 1.7 MB
Check the source: this lake’s record (16-3712-53869) in the Ontario MNRF bathymetry index, and the contour line layer the map is drawn from (Land Information Ontario open data, Open Government Licence – Ontario). Survey year: 1974. This model was built 2026-09-07. Depths between contours are interpolated, not measured.
Paddling
Paddling Index methodology v1.0 · calculated 2026-09-16Deception Lake has a mostly natural, lightly developed setting, well sheltered geometry, nearby higher-volume roads.
Why this score?5 components
Included in the index
| Component | Rating | Points of weight | Measurement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural setting | Very Good | 30.3 of 43 | 77% natural land cover within 150 m of shore (74% forest, 0% wetland; 21% developed) |
| Geometric wind exposure | Excellent | 33.8 of 36 | mean fetch 510 m · 46% of sampled water within 500 m of shelter · short fetch in most directions |
| Motor & speed rules | Not modelled | — | Canada publishes vessel motor and speed restrictions as federal legal schedules, not map data, so they are not part of the Ontario index. Check local signage and Transport Canada rules before going out. |
| Public access | Not listed | — | No publicly listed MNRF fishing access point within 100 m of this shoreline. Municipal, private and informal launches are not all in this source, so this is not evidence that access is poor — the component is excluded and the remaining weights are renormalized. |
| Road isolation | Mixed | 6.2 of 21 | nearby higher-volume roads · 13 Ontario Road Network segments within 1.2 km (traffic estimated from road class, not measured) |
Additional paddling considerations
These describe the lake but are not part of the v1 Paddling Index and do not change the number above.
- Wake sensitivity
- Low — wide enough that wakes disperse over most of the lake
- Observed motorized activity
- Unknown — No lake-level measurement of boat traffic is available. Legal permission to operate motors is not evidence of use.
- Wildlife habitat potential
- Moderate — 74% forest and 0% wetland cover within 150 m of shore
- Mapped wildlife habitat
- None mapped — Ontario MNRF has not mapped moose, deer or waterfowl habitat within 1 km of this lake. The province maps these areas where it has surveyed, so this is not evidence that wildlife is absent. · Ontario MNRF Wildlife Values Area. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario.
Compare Ontario lakes by Paddling Index →
Angler catch reports
Fish ON-Line · 20142 angler trips logged here between July 2014 and July 2014 — too few to show a pattern, so each species is listed with how many trips named it.
Pictures are sized relative to each other. Illustrations are AI-generated representative adults in everyday colours, not photographs (provenance).
About these fish → the Fish of Ontario guide
Deception Lake — common questions
How deep is Deception Lake?
The deepest contour on the Ontario MNRF bathymetric survey of Deception Lake is 18.3 m (60 ft). That is the deepest depth the historical survey map records, which may differ from the deepest point of the lake itself.
How big is Deception Lake?
Deception Lake covers about 22 ha (56 acres) in Thunder Bay District, Ontario.
Is there public access to Deception Lake?
No fishing access point for Deception Lake appears in the Ontario MNRF fishing access point list (within 100 m of the shoreline). That is not the same as the lake being private -- the MNRF list is incomplete, and many municipal, marina and private launches are not in it.
