Canyon Ferry Lake is a

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 control ...

on the Missouri River near

Helena, Montana Helena (; ) is the capital city of Montana, United States, and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County. Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold rush, and established on October 30, 1864. Due to the gold rush, Helena would b ...

and

Townsend, Montana Townsend is a city in and the county seat of Broadwater County, Montana, United States. The population was 1,787 at the 2020 census. History Lewis and Clark passed through on the voyage of discovery in 1805, although the first white settlers, ...

. It is Montana's third largest body of water, covering 35,181 acres (142 km²) and 76 miles (122 km) of shor
(1)
It was formed by the building of

Canyon Ferry Dam Canyon Ferry Dam is a concrete gravity dam in a narrow valley of the Missouri River, United States, where the Big Belt Mountains and the Spokane Hills merge, approximately downstream from the confluence of the Gallatin, Madison, and Jefferson ri ...

, which was completed in 1954 and has been used for electricity, irrigation, and flood controls since.

Recreation

The lake is a popular outdoor destination providing boating, fishing, wildlife habitat, and is nestled against the Big Belt Mountains of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

. Canyon Ferry Lake has also become a leading

ice boat An iceboat (occasionally spelled ice boat or traditionally called an ice yacht) is a recreational or competition sailing craft supported on metal runners for traveling over ice. One of the runners is steerable. Originally, such craft were boats ...

venue for iceboat racing and iceboat world speed record attempts. The former town of

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

lies beneath the lake, having been submerged following construction of the dam. File:Canyon Ferry Yacht Basin.jpg, Canyon Ferry Lake, north end, viewed from Yacht Basin Marina. File:CanyonFerryDamoverhead.jpg, Aerial View of Canyon Ferry Lake and

. File:Big Belts and Canyon Ferry.jpg, Canyon Ferry Lake in foreground as seen from

U.S. Highway 12 U.S. Route 12 (US 12) is an east–west United States highway, running from Aberdeen, Washington, to Detroit, Michigan, for almost . The highway has mostly been superseded by Interstate 90 (I-90) and I-94, but unlike most U.S. routes that ...

near Townsend, Montana. Big Belt Mountains in background. File:Map Pick–Sloan Missouri Basin Program.png, Location of Canyon Ferry Lake and other reservoirs and dams built in the Pick–Sloan Program since the 1940s.

Fishing

The lake is regularly stocked with fish. Canyon Ferry Reservoir continues to be one of the most popular angling destinations in the state of Montana.

References

External links

Canyon Ferry Lake (Official website)
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), Department of the Interior
Current Reservoir Data
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
Canyon Ferry Lake Information
Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks
Canyon Ferry Recreation Map
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation {{authority control Bodies of water of Broadwater County, Montana Bodies of water of Lewis and Clark County, Montana Reservoirs in Montana Buildings and structures in Broadwater County, Montana Buildings and structures in Lewis and Clark County, Montana Protected areas of Lewis and Clark County, Montana Protected areas of Broadwater County, Montana 1954 establishments in Montana

Recreation

Fishing

See also

References

External links