Lake Sylvan
Lake Sylvan is one of the more famous lakes in South Dakota and is the most popular and well known lake in the Black Hills. It is located in East Custer at the foot of Black Elk Peak in the Black Hills national Forest, south-west from Rapid City.
Lake Sylvan was formed back in 1881, and has been a popular place to visit ever since. Lake Sylvan is located at the base of a few popular mountains and the lake itself is a good spot to go swimming and stay for lodging. One of the most common reasons for people from Rapid City to go to Lake Sylvan is to hike up Harney Peak. But people do come to the lake for daily visits when the weather is good to camp out and have a good time in the outdoors of the Black Hills.
Why is this lake well known?
The lake came to be, back in 1881, when Theodore Reder, a Black Hills Pioneer, built a dam across the Sunday Gulch. Since then, it’s been a popular picnic area, a place for rocking climbing, an area for small rental boats, swimming, and for the hiking trails around the lake. The lake tends to be the most popular location to start a hike to Black Elk Peak, Harney Peak, and The Needles. By the early 2000s, a hotel was built near the lake and the lake was used in 2007 for Disney’s National Treasure: Book of Secrets. The movie helped to further the popularity of the lake and Sylvan has continued to be a lake of interest to this very day.
What is available right now?
During the Spring and into the summer, they have several lodges that you can rent, as well as boating and fishing, dining locations, tours, scenic drives, and other points of interest. Some of the lodges have the capabilities to house wagons and horses so that you can go out during the day and come back during the evening and sit around the campfire. Dining locations include four restaurants with their own flavors and specialties with options for catering. They have bus tours that often park in the lodges around the area that you can ride in and enjoy the hills from an air-conditioned bus.
The area around Lake Sylvan and in the Black Hills are breathtaking, making any drive around the hills a chance to explore and discover beautiful views.
You can also just drive up the lake and fine a spot to park, walk around and go swimming. There are several places you can go cliff jumping and lots of lake to swim around in. People also partake in fishing and setting up little camps on the roads around the lake. The entire lake is public and people can go anywhere in the lake and around it.
References:
"Sylvan Lake (South Dakota)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Nov. 2016. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.
"Sylvan Lake Lodge » Lodges & Cabins » Custer State Park Resort." Custer State Park Resort. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.
Lake Sylvan is one of the more famous lakes in South Dakota and is the most popular and well known lake in the Black Hills. It is located in East Custer at the foot of Black Elk Peak in the Black Hills national Forest, south-west from Rapid City.
Lake Sylvan was formed back in 1881, and has been a popular place to visit ever since. Lake Sylvan is located at the base of a few popular mountains and the lake itself is a good spot to go swimming and stay for lodging. One of the most common reasons for people from Rapid City to go to Lake Sylvan is to hike up Harney Peak. But people do come to the lake for daily visits when the weather is good to camp out and have a good time in the outdoors of the Black Hills.
Why is this lake well known?
The lake came to be, back in 1881, when Theodore Reder, a Black Hills Pioneer, built a dam across the Sunday Gulch. Since then, it’s been a popular picnic area, a place for rocking climbing, an area for small rental boats, swimming, and for the hiking trails around the lake. The lake tends to be the most popular location to start a hike to Black Elk Peak, Harney Peak, and The Needles. By the early 2000s, a hotel was built near the lake and the lake was used in 2007 for Disney’s National Treasure: Book of Secrets. The movie helped to further the popularity of the lake and Sylvan has continued to be a lake of interest to this very day.
What is available right now?
During the Spring and into the summer, they have several lodges that you can rent, as well as boating and fishing, dining locations, tours, scenic drives, and other points of interest. Some of the lodges have the capabilities to house wagons and horses so that you can go out during the day and come back during the evening and sit around the campfire. Dining locations include four restaurants with their own flavors and specialties with options for catering. They have bus tours that often park in the lodges around the area that you can ride in and enjoy the hills from an air-conditioned bus.
The area around Lake Sylvan and in the Black Hills are breathtaking, making any drive around the hills a chance to explore and discover beautiful views.
You can also just drive up the lake and fine a spot to park, walk around and go swimming. There are several places you can go cliff jumping and lots of lake to swim around in. People also partake in fishing and setting up little camps on the roads around the lake. The entire lake is public and people can go anywhere in the lake and around it.
References:
"Sylvan Lake (South Dakota)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Nov. 2016. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.
"Sylvan Lake Lodge » Lodges & Cabins » Custer State Park Resort." Custer State Park Resort. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.