Located in Cheboygan County, Michigan, Burt Lake is a lake at about 181 m (594 ft) above sea level. The nearest town is Indian River, about 7.8 km (4.8 mi) away (Burt Lake lies NW of town).
Burt Lake is a 17,120 acres (69.3 km2) lake in Cheboygan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The western shore of the lake is on the boundary with Emmet County. The lake is named after William Austin Burt, who, together with John Mullett, made a federal survey of the area from 1840 to 1843. The lake is approximately 10 miles (16 km) long from north to south, about 5 miles (8.0 km) at its widest, and 73 feet (22 m) at its deepest. Major inflows to the lake are the Maple River, which connects with nearby Douglas Lake, the Crooked River, which connects with nearby Crooked Lake, the Sturgeon River which enters the lake near the point where the Indian River flows out of the lake into nearby Mullett Lake and the Little Carp River which enters on the northern end of the lake.From the Wikipedia article “Burt Lake”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sunrise & sunset directions
At Burt Lake the sunrise point swings a long way through the year: about 55° (NE) at the June solstice and 124° (ESE) in late December. Sunset moves from 306° (NW) in June to 237° (WSW) in December, and the midday sun climbs to 68° in summer but only 21° in winter.
| Date | Sunrise | Azimuth | Sunset | Azimuth | Noon sun | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox (Mar 20) | 7:43 AM | 90° E | 7:51 PM | 271° W | 44° | 12h 08m |
| June solstice (Jun 21) | 5:51 AM | 55° NE | 9:32 PM | 306° NW | 68° | 15h 41m |
| September equinox (Sep 22) | 7:26 AM | 89° E | 7:38 PM | 271° W | 45° | 12h 12m |
| December solstice (Dec 21) | 8:16 AM | 124° ESE | 4:59 PM | 237° WSW | 21° | 8h 42m |
Azimuth is measured clockwise from true north (90° = east, 270° = west). Computed for 2026; values change by less than a degree from year to year.
Golden hour & blue hour by month
Lakes reflect best in calm air — usually the first hour after sunrise, before breezes ripple the surface.
| Month (15th) | Blue hour starts | Sunrise | Golden hour ends | Golden hour starts | Sunset | Blue hour ends | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7:42 AM | 8:16 AM | 9:03 AM | 4:35 PM | 5:22 PM | 5:55 PM | 9h 06m |
| February | 7:11 AM | 7:41 AM | 8:23 AM | 5:24 PM | 6:06 PM | 6:36 PM | 10h 25m |
| March | 7:23 AM | 7:52 AM | 8:31 AM | 7:05 PM | 7:45 PM | 8:14 PM | 11h 52m |
| April | 6:23 AM | 6:54 AM | 7:34 AM | 7:45 PM | 8:25 PM | 8:56 PM | 13h 31m |
| May | 5:35 AM | 6:09 AM | 6:52 AM | 8:20 PM | 9:03 PM | 9:37 PM | 14h 54m |
| June | 5:12 AM | 5:50 AM | 6:36 AM | 8:44 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:08 PM | 15h 39m |
| July | 5:29 AM | 6:05 AM | 6:50 AM | 8:41 PM | 9:25 PM | 10:02 PM | 15h 20m |
| August | 6:08 AM | 6:40 AM | 7:21 AM | 8:07 PM | 8:48 PM | 9:20 PM | 14h 08m |
| September | 6:48 AM | 7:18 AM | 7:57 AM | 7:13 PM | 7:52 PM | 8:22 PM | 12h 34m |
| October | 7:26 AM | 7:55 AM | 8:36 AM | 6:14 PM | 6:55 PM | 7:25 PM | 10h 59m |
| November | 7:06 AM | 7:38 AM | 8:23 AM | 4:25 PM | 5:10 PM | 5:42 PM | 9h 32m |
| December | 7:39 AM | 8:13 AM | 9:02 AM | 4:07 PM | 4:57 PM | 5:31 PM | 8h 44m |
Local time (America/Detroit), including daylight saving time. Golden hour runs from about −4° to +6° solar altitude, so the morning golden hour begins during blue hour, before sunrise.
Milky Way & night sky
From Burt Lake, the Milky Way core is visible in a dark sky from April through August. June gives the longest window (about 3.0 hours on a moonless night), and the core peaks around 16° above the southern horizon. Our light-pollution model puts the sky at about Bortle 2 (typical truly dark site), which is excellent for astrophotography.
| Month | Core visible (15th) | Hours | Max altitude | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | Below 10° in darkness | — | -4° | — |
| February | Below 10° in darkness | — | 7° | — |
| March | 5:44 AM – 6:04 AM | 0.3 | 12° | SSE → SSE |
| April | 3:44 AM – 4:54 AM | 1.2 | 15° | SSE → SSE |
| May | 1:44 AM – 3:54 AM | 2.2 | 16° | SSE → S |
| June | 12:07 AM – 3:07 AM | 3.0 | 16° | SSE → SSW |
| July | 11:50 PM – 1:50 AM | 2.0 | 16° | S → SSW |
| August | 10:45 PM – 11:55 PM | 1.2 | 14° | SSW → SSW |
| September | 9:34 PM – 9:54 PM | 0.3 | 12° | SSW → SSW |
| October | Below 10° in darkness | — | 7° | — |
| November | Below 10° in darkness | — | -3° | — |
| December | Below 10° in darkness | — | -20° | — |
Window when the galactic core is at least 10° high during astronomical darkness on the 15th of each month. Pick nights within a few days of the new moon. Plan exact nights with the Milky Way planner.
Estimated sky darkness: 2 Bortle 2 — Typical truly dark site. The summer Milky Way shows rich structure; clouds look like black holes in the stars. Modeled zenith brightness ≈ 21.89 mag/arcsec². Aurora needs roughly Kp 4.0+ to show low on the northern horizon here.
Weather & best season
Long-term NASA satellite data for this area show September as the clearest month (about 61% average cloud cover) and December as the cloudiest (81%). July is the warmest month and February the coldest, which matters for gear, snow access and how long batteries last at night.
Average cloud cover (%)
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High °F | 44 | 55 | 75 | 74 | 82 | 85 | 91 | 88 | 86 | 82 | 69 | 58 |
| Low °F | -15 | -18 | -10 | 6 | 27 | 33 | 44 | 46 | 37 | 28 | 13 | -6 |
| Precip. (in) | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 2.9 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 4.2 | 2.6 | 2.4 |
Monthly climatology for the surrounding 1° grid cell from NASA POWER (MERRA-2). Mountain sites can be colder and cloudier than the cell average.
Photography tips for this lake
- For mirror reflections, get low and close to the water; the reflection grows with a lower camera.
- A polarizer can remove reflections to show the lakebed — or keep them, depending on rotation.
- Mist often lifts off lakes on cold mornings after warm days, especially in autumn.
- Include shoreline rocks, reeds or a log as foreground to give the reflection depth.
- Bring a spare battery — cold weather and long exposures drain them fast.
Season: Autumn mornings bring mist and fall color; high-elevation lakes are usually ice-free only from early summer to mid-autumn.
Suggested gear: Tripod, Circular polarizer, Wide-angle lens, Waterproof boots. Work out exposures with the depth of field, ND filter and NPF rule calculators.
Nearby photo spots
Other locations within 25 km of Burt Lake, closest first.
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LighthouseLighthouse
LighthouseFAQ
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How far is Burt Lake from Indian River?
Sources
Location data: Wikidata, USGS GNIS / GeoNames, Wikipedia. Sun, moon and Milky Way times are computed by LWPhoto Atlas for 2026. Climate: NASA POWER. Sky darkness is a population-based estimate (Walker's law), not a measurement. See data sources & licenses.