Grays Lake (Illinois)
| Grays Lake | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Grays Lake  Grays Lake | |
| Location | Grayslake, Lake County, Illinois |
| Coordinates | 42°20′28″N 88°02′42″W / 42.341132°N 88.045034°W |
| Lake type | kettle lake |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Max. length | 0.53 mi (0.85 km) |
| Max. width | 0.3 mi (0.48 km) |
| Surface area | 80 acres (32 ha) |
| Average depth | 4 ft (1.2 m) |
| Max. depth | 18 ft (5.5 m) |
| Water volume | 112×106 US gal (420,000 m3) |
| Shore length1 | 2 mi (3.2 km) |
| Surface elevation | 790 ft (240 m) [1] |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
Grays Lake is a 80-acre (32 ha) kettle lake[2] located in the Village of Grayslake in Lake County, Illinois.
Local regulations
[edit]Motorized watercraft are generally not allowed on the lake. Largemouth bass must be 15 inches long or longer to keep while northern pike must be 24 inches long or longer to keep. 2 line limit
Statistics
[edit]Grays Lake contains approximately 112 million US gallons (420,000 m3) of water covering approximately 80 acres (320,000 m2). Water depth is approximately 18 feet (5.5 m)[3] at its deepest point and averages 4 feet (1.2 m) deep. The lake is nearly 0.3 miles (0.48 km) wide and 0.53 miles (0.85 km) long with about 2 miles (3.2 km) of lake shore.[4]
Watershed
[edit]Grays Lake lies at the top of and drains into the Mill Creek, watershed. The Mill Creek watershed lies in the Des Plaines River watershed, which lies in the Illinois River watershed, which lies in the Mississippi River watershed, which drains into the Gulf of Mexico and eventually into the Atlantic Ocean.
Fauna
[edit]Fish Largemouth bass, crappie, northern pike, yellow perch, sunfish, carp and catfish.[5]
Mammals Fox, coyote, gray squirrel, chipmunk, raccoon, bat
Amphibians American bullfrog
Birds Turkey vulture, American robin, American goldfinch, blue heron, mallard duck, swan, dark-eyed junco, red-tailed hawk, Bald eagle
Reptiles Common snapping turtle
Flora
[edit]Pickerel rush
Jones Island
[edit]At the west end of the lake is a peninsula called Jones Island. This area, previously a marsh, was filled in to improve recreational opportunities.[6][7]
References
[edit]- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Grays Lake (Illinois)
- ^ "Lakes Management Unit". Archived from the original on 2009-12-04. Retrieved 2009-12-30.
- ^ Grayslake Bathymetry
- ^ Grays Lake Statistics
- ^ Grays Lake Fish
- ^ Jones Island History
- ^ Lake County gis Archived 2008-06-08 at the Wayback Machine.