Lake Sylvia State Park is a state-operated, public recreation area in the northern part of
Montesano in
Grays Harbor County, Washington
Grays Harbor County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 75,636. Its county seat is Montesano, and its largest city is Aberdeen. Grays Harbor County is included in the Aberdeen Micropolitan ...
. The park is located in dense
temperate rain forest
Temperate rainforests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rain.
Temperate rain forests occur in oceanic moist regions around the world: the Pacific temperate rain forests of North American Paci ...
.
The park offers swimming, hiking, camping, fishing, and non-motored boating.
[ It was built around an old lumber mill pond, which was used for a few years to power the town's first electrical generation plant. The rustic dam that powered the mill and the power plant remains at the western end of the lake and feeds the lower reaches of Sylvia Creek.
The area was originally homesteaded in the late 1860s by Michael F. Luark, who built Grays Harbor County's first water-powered sawmill there in 1871.][Informational sign atop the Lake Sylvia dam, accessed 2023-01-27.] The present dam was built around 1909; its penstock
A penstock is a sluice or gate or intake structure that controls water flow, or an enclosed pipe that delivers water to hydro turbines and sewerage systems. The term is inherited from the earlier technology of mill ponds and watermills.
H ...
(now mostly demolished) provided the power for a generator
Generator may refer to:
* Signal generator, electronic devices that generate repeating or non-repeating electronic signals
* Electric generator, a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy.
* Generator (circuit theory), an eleme ...
house alongside the creek, down below.mallard duck
The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argen ...
s and Canada geese
The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), or Canadian goose, is a large wild goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North America, and it is o ...
. A family of osprey
The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...
s, as well as occasional bald eagle
The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...
s, also occupy the lake area. There is also a small group of beavers living along Sylvia Creek, which flows from the lake.
The municipal watershed
Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to:
Hydrology
* Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins
* Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...
of Montesano lies above the head of the lake, at the eastern end of Lake Sylvia, and is accessible by foot through the park. The city watershed is managed very similarly to a national forest and serves as a corridor for wildlife to enter and leave the park and the northern parts of the town.
References
External links
Lake Sylvia State Park
Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission
Lake Sylvia State Park Map
Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission
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Parks in Grays Harbor County, Washington
State parks of Washington (state)