Lakes / Wisconsin / Lake Mendota

Lake Mendota, Wisconsin

9,781 acres

Surface Area

83 ft

Max Depth

42 ft

Average Depth

850 ft

Surface Elevation

Where It Sits, and How Deep It Goes

Locator - Wisconsin

43.10 degrees N, 89.42 degrees W - Dane County. State and county outlines drawn from Census boundary data; the lake marker is placed by its DNR coordinates, not by eye. Schematic - not a survey map.

Depth Profile - Lake Mendota

Schematic cross-section drawn to one shared depth scale - not a survey or bathymetric map. The benchmark is the state itself: Wisconsin Lakes defines a shallow lake as under 20 ft at its deepest, with an average depth under 10 ft.

How Lake Mendota Stacks Up

Ranks #7 for depth among the 13 natural lakes counted in Wisconsin so far.
Ranks #6 for surface area among the Wisconsin lakes counted so far - 9,781 acres.
Its average depth of 42 ft is more than 4 times a typical shallow Wisconsin lake, which averages under 10 ft.
About 2 miles from Madison, as the crow flies.

Fish Species

MuskyPanfishLargemouth BassSmallmouth BassNorthern PikeWalleyeSturgeonCatfish

Species recorded for this lake. Presence only - no abundance ratings.

Facts and Figures

Waterbody ID (WBIC)805400

CountyDane

Lake TypeDrainage

Coordinates43.1050, -89.4199

Deepest Natural Lakes in Wisconsin

#	Lake	County	Surface Area	Max Depth
1	Green Lake	Green Lake	7,920 acres	236 ft
2	Geneva Lake	Walworth	5,401 acres	135 ft
3	Elkhart Lake	Sheboygan	292 acres	119 ft
4	Trout Lake	Vilas	3,864 acres	117 ft
5	Little Trout Lake	Vilas	1,007 acres	98 ft

Largest Lakes in Wisconsin

#	Lake	County	Surface Area	Max Depth
1	Lake Winnebago	Winnebago, Fond du Lac, Calumet	131,939 acres	21 ft
2	Lake Pepin	Pierce, Buffalo, Pepin	24,550 acres	60 ft
3	Petenwell Lake	Adams, Wood, Juneau	23,173 acres	44 ft
4	Chippewa Flowage	Sawyer	15,300 acres	92 ft
5	Lake Poygan	Winnebago, Waushara	14,024 acres	11 ft

Sources: Wisconsin DNR lake data (WBIC 805400); USGS; Wisconsin Lakes (shallow-lake benchmark). Verified October 28, 2026.