Big Stone Lake ( dak, Íŋyaŋ Tháŋka Bdé) is a long, narrow
freshwater
Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does incl ...
lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
and
reservoir
A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation.
Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contr ...
on the border between western
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...
and northeastern
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large po ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
.
Description
The lake covers , stretching from end to end and averaging around wide. At an elevation of , it is South Dakota's lowest point. Big Stone Lake is the source of the
Minnesota River
The Minnesota River ( dak, Mnísota Wakpá) is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles (534 km) long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of in Minnesota and about in South Dakota and Iowa.
It ris ...
, which flows to the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...
.
Flow from the lake to the Minnesota River is regulated by the Big Stone Lake Dam, built in 1937 at the lake's southern end. Although modest, the dam controls a maximum capacity of 205,000
acre-feet
The acre-foot is a non- SI unit of volume equal to about commonly used in the United States in reference to large-scale water resources, such as reservoirs, aqueducts, canals, sewer flow capacity, irrigation water, and river flows.
An acr ...
. It is owned and operated by the state of Minnesota.
The lake is fed by the
Little Minnesota River at its north end, which flows through the
Traverse Gap. Big Stone was formed at the end of the last
ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...
when glacial
Lake Agassiz
Lake Agassiz was a large glacial lake in central North America. Fed by glacial meltwater at the end of the last glacial period, its area was larger than all of the modern Great Lakes combined.
First postulated in 1823 by William H. Keating, i ...
drained through the gap into
Glacial River Warren. The valley of that river now holds Big Stone Lake. The lake is shown on the 1757 edition of
Mitchell Map as "L. Tinton", referring to the
Lakota people, also known as ''Tetonwan'' ("dwellers of the prairie"). Big Stone Lake was named for nearby rock outcroppings.
Two
state park
State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...
s are at the lake:
Big Stone Lake State Park
Big Stone Lake State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, on the shore of Big Stone Lake, the headwaters of the Minnesota River. It is home to wildlife including deer, raccoons, squirrels, meadowlarks, sedge wrens, pheasants, boboli ...
in Minnesota and
Hartford Beach State Park
Hartford Beach State Park is a South Dakota state park on Big Stone Lake in Roberts County, South Dakota in the United States. The park is open for year-round recreation, including cabins, camping, swimming, fishing, hiking, disc golf and boati ...
in South Dakota. They provide picnic, boat launching, trail, and camping facilities. An educational center is part of the Minnesota park. Several vacation resorts are along the shores of Big Stone Lake as well. Visitors are attracted to the lake especially for its
fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from fish stocking, stocked bodies of water such as fish pond, ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. ...
:
walleye,
northern pike
The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish water, brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are kno ...
, and
bluegills are all popular
game fish with anglers, and the lake contains over 30 other species. There are 12 public accesses for fishing use. The lake is stocked every two years with 7,000,000 walleye fry.
The communities of
Ortonville, Minnesota
Ortonville is a city in Big Stone County in the U.S. state of Minnesota at the southern tip of Big Stone Lake, along the border with South Dakota. The population was 2,021 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Big Stone County. Big S ...
, and
Big Stone City, South Dakota, are at the lake's southern tip;
Browns Valley, Minnesota, is at the northern tip.
See also
*
List of lakes in Minnesota
*
List of lakes in South Dakota
This is a list of lakes in South Dakota.
See also
*List of rivers of South Dakota
This is a list of rivers in the state of South Dakota in the United States.
By tributary
Minnesota River watershed
* Little Minnesota River
** Jorgenson Ri ...
References
Sources
"Big Stone Lake" Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved July 29, 2005.
"Big Stone Lake" United States Department of Transportation
The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...
. Retrieved July 29, 2005.
Big Stone Lake Area Chamber of Commerce Viewed July 29, 2005.
* .
Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved July 29, 2005.
* Spading, Kenton (January 2000). .
.
External links
{{authority control
Borders of Minnesota
Borders of South Dakota
Dams completed in 1937
Dams in Minnesota
Dams in South Dakota
Minnesota River
Reservoirs in Minnesota
Reservoirs in South Dakota
United States state-owned dams
Lakes of Big Stone County, Minnesota
Lakes of Roberts County, South Dakota
Bodies of water of Grant County, South Dakota