Lake Michigan, carved in layers of birch
Every depth a real step in the wood, not a print.
“Beautiful piece, expertly crafted. Packed well and arrived in perfect condition.”
Mark S., Hudson, OH. Verified buyer
The only Great Lake entirely inside the United States, rendered as stacked birch from the Straits of Mackinac down to the Indiana shore. Every contour on this chart is a real depth line, cut as its own layer.
Details
- Dimensions
- 24.5 x 31 in
- Material
- Baltic birch, hand-stained water
- Build
- Up to 12 laser-cut birch layers
- Detail
- Carved bathymetric relief, laser-etched labels
- Soundings
- NOAA nautical survey data
About this piece
Lake Michigan runs 307 miles north to south with more than 1,600 miles of shoreline, and it reaches 923 feet at its deepest point off the Wisconsin coast. That geography is legible in the wood: the deep mid-lake trench sits many layers down, while the long shallow shelf along the eastern beaches, the one that makes the water so swimmable from Muskegon to Sleeping Bear, stays near the top sheet. The dunes, the piers, the big water in between, all of it in proportion.
Each sheet of Baltic birch is laser-cut to a survey contour and stacked in order, with place names engraved rather than printed. The finish brings up the grain and an acrylic glass front protects the relief. The solid birch frame comes in Dark or Light.
Every family that summers on this lake has their town on this chart, and most can find their beach.
Engraved along its shores are Chicago and Milwaukee at the south and west, Green Bay behind the Door Peninsula, Traverse City tucked into Grand Traverse Bay, and the Manitou and Fox islands off the Leelanau coast. For a closer look at particular water, see the Chicago lakefront chart, Door County, or the full Great Lakes chart.
- 16 × 20 in or 24.5 × 31 in
- Solid Baltic birch frame in Dark or Light
- Acrylic glass front, ready to hang
- Free next-business-day shipping on orders placed by 2 PM EST
- 14-day returns
Shipping and returns
Orders placed by 2 PM EST ship the next business day, free anywhere in the US, with tracking.
14-day returns if the size or frame is not right for the room.
Going on someone else’s wall? It ships packed and ready to wrap. Add a gift note in your cart.
Not a print
Run a finger across it. You can feel the water get deeper.
Up to 12 sheets of Baltic birch, each one laser-cut to a real depth contour from NOAA survey data, stained darker as the water gets deeper, then stacked by hand. Deep water falls away layer after layer; the shallows sit close to the surface, just like the real thing.
How the water becomes wood
Anyone who grew up on this water has a spot on this chart.
The dock, the crossing, the stretch of shoreline that meant summer. Most people find theirs in the first minute. Every shoreline, island and depth contour of Lake Michigan is cut, layered and etched from real survey data.
Built for the wall it ends up on.
A solid birch frame in Dark or Light, an acrylic front that keeps dust off the layers without the glare of glass, and hanging hardware already on the back, so it goes up the day it arrives.
From the people who hung one
39 reviews, 5.0 average
Live from the water
Questions people ask before they buy
Straight answers to the things that stop an order.
When will it arrive?
Orders placed by 2 PM EST ship the next business day, free anywhere in the US. You get a tracking number as soon as it leaves.
Which size should I choose?
The larger size is the one most people hang in a living room, over a sofa, console or mantel; it reads clearly from across the room. The smaller size suits a hallway, office, bathroom or boat. Both carry the same detail.
How is it packed? Will it survive shipping?
Each piece ships framed, with the acrylic front already in place, in a box built for it. "Packed well and arrived in perfect condition" is the most common thing reviewers say about delivery.
What if it is not right?
14-day returns. If the frame color is wrong for the room or the size is not what you pictured, send it back.
Is this a print?
No. The water is up to 12 physical layers of birch, each laser-cut to a real depth contour and stacked by hand. The names and depths are burned into the wood. You can feel every step.
Do you have my lake?
195+ lakes, bays and coastlines. Use the map below to find yours, or search it. Each of the Great Lakes, for example, is also available on its own chart at closer scale.
Not your lake?
195+ lakes, bays and coastlines
Pan the chart, jump by region, or let us find the waters closest to you. Every pin is a piece we carve.