Lake Superior, 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
- Dimensions
- 24.5 x 31 in
- Material
- Baltic birch, hand-stained water
- Build
- Up to nine laser-cut birch layers
- Detail
- Carved bathymetric relief, laser-etched labels
- Soundings
- NOAA nautical survey data
The biggest lake on Earth, cut into birch. This chart holds all of Superior at 24.5 by 31 inches, from Duluth to the locks at Sault Ste. Marie, with every depth contour a separate laser-cut layer.
Read more
Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area, holding a tenth of the planet's fresh surface water, and it could swallow the other four Great Lakes with room to spare. Its bottom lies 1,333 feet down, and on this chart that immensity is what you notice first: the layers keep going, shelf after shelf of birch dropping toward the deepest engraving on the map. The water that inspired songs and swallowed ships reads here as depth you can trace with a finger.
Layers are cut one contour at a time and stacked by hand, so the relief is structural, not painted on. Names and soundings are engraved into the wood, the finish shows the grain, and acrylic glass keeps it all clean on the wall.
People who love this lake tend to love it fiercely: the cold, the fog, the ore boats on the horizon. Their stretch of shore is on here.
The engraving carries the places that define Superior: Isle Royale far out in the northwest, the Apostle Islands off Bayfield, the Keweenaw Peninsula reaching halfway across, Pictured Rocks east of Munising, and Whitefish Point at the entrance to the bay where the Edmund Fitzgerald went down in 1975. Superior also anchors the top of the full Great Lakes chart if you want all five in one piece.
- 24.5 × 31 in
- Solid Baltic birch frame
- 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.
Not a print
Run a finger across it. Every depth is a step in the wood.
Up to nine 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 Superior is cut, layered and etched from real survey data.
Built for the wall it ends up on.
A solid birch frame, 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
14 reviews, 4.9 average
Live from the water
Questions people ask before they buy
Straight answers to the things that stop an order.
Is this a print?
No. The water is up to nine 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.