Sylvan Lake is a lake located in
Custer State Park
Custer State Park is a South Dakota State Park and wildlife reserve in the Black Hills, United States. The park is South Dakota's largest and first state park, named after Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer. The park covers an area of over of v ...
, in the
Black Hills
The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black ...
of
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 porti ...
,
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 primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. It was created in 1891 when Theodore Reder built a dam (the ''Sylvan Lake Water Dam'') across Sunday Gulch Creek. The lake area offers picnic places, rock climbing, small rental boats, swimming, and hiking trails. It is also popular as a starting point for excursions to
Black Elk Peak
Black Elk Peak is the highest natural point in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the Midwestern United States. It lies in the Black Elk Wilderness area, in southern Pennington County, in the Black Hills National Forest. The peak lies west-sout ...
and
The Needles
The Needles is a row of three stacks of chalk that rise about out of the sea off the western extremity of the Isle of Wight in the English Channel, United Kingdom, close to Alum Bay and Scratchell's Bay, and part of Totland, the westernmo ...
. A hotel was operated on the shore of the lake in the early 20th century .
Postcard
us-roots.com.
The lake was featured in Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
's 2007 film '' National Treasure: Book of Secrets''. The film made the lake appear to be located directly behind Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (Lakota: ''Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe'', or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakot ...
when in reality it is actually five miles southwest of Mount Rushmore.
Image:Swimmers_at_Sylvan_Lake_01.jpg, Swimming and other activities are popular at Sylvan Lake.
File:Sylvan Lake rock wall.jpg, Rock wall damming the northwest side of Sylvan Lake
File:Sylvan Lake Rocks and Lake.JPG, Path between rocks and lake
File:Sylvan Lake Paddleboat among rocks.jpg, Paddleboat on the lake
File:Sylvan Lake Water Dam.JPG, View down from Sylvan Lake Water Dam to the Sunday Gulch Creek
File:SylvanLakeCusterStatePark.jpg, A view of Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park, South Dakota.
See also
*List of South Dakota lakes
This is a list of lakes in South Dakota.
See also
*List of rivers of South Dakota
Sources
Lake Surveys, Maps, and Fishing ForecastsNortheast South Dakota fish surveysSoutheast South Dakota fish surveysWestern South Dakota fish surveys ...
References
Reservoirs in South Dakota
Protected areas of Custer County, South Dakota
Black Hills
Bodies of water of Custer County, South Dakota
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