Lake Sherburne is located in the Many Glacier region of Glacier National Park, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

. The 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 contro ...

, formed by Lake Sherburne Dam, which impounded Swiftcurrent Creek and was constructed in between 1914 and 1921. The construction of the dam inundated several small lakes and highly productive

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks a ...

and

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

areas, and due to its fluctuating water levels, the surrounding area supports little vegetation. However,

trumpeter swan The trumpeter swan (''Cygnus buccinator'') is a species of swan found in North America. The heaviest living bird native to North America, it is also the largest extant species of waterfowl, with a wingspan of 185 to 250 cm (6 ft 2 in to 8 ft 2 ...

s are often observed along the lake in the spring and fall. The lake stretches nearly when full. The reservoir is the principal water storage component of the U.S.

Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, and formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and opera ...

's Milk River Project, which provides irrigation water to north central Montana farms. The name Lake Sherburne is derived from an early settler and businessman in the area, Joseph H. Sherburne. He settled in the area (Browning) in 1896 and was the proprietor of the Sherburne Mercantile Company which had stores in towns in the area Browning, Babb and East Glacier. During this time he had a cabin for summer use by his family on the shore of what became known as Sherburne Lakes (plural). Once the dam was built in 1919 the name was revised to Lake Sherburne.

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 stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

along the lake is less than spectacular, but brook trout and

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are known simply as a p ...

can be caught there. A boat is generally required for fishing, but since there is no boat dock along the lake, it is usually necessary to park alongside the road and walk down to the lakeshore.

References

{{authority control Sherburne Sherburne Sherburne Sherburne Infrastructure completed in 1921

See also

References