Lake Vermillion: The West End Again

Last night the forecast for the Sioux Falls area looked reasonably good for kayaking; the only cautionary note was winds from 15-20 mph.  So, I loaded up the kayak in the evening, got up at 5:00 a.m., and set out for an abbreviated morning read, bagel, and coffee at my morning spot before heading west to visit either Beaver Lake or Lake Vermillion.  I would make up my mind en route while observing the wind effect as traveling west on I-90.

The trees seemed to be blowing in a south wind as I approached Humboldt and the exit to Beaver Lake.  Remembering the ease with which waves develop on that open body of water, I decided to pass it by and go on instead to Lake Vermillion State Recreation Area, located between I-90 and Highway 42 along SD Highway 19.

Arriving at the recreation area about 7:20 a.m., I found a couple of fishing boats being launched from the large well-developed parking area. I got my kayak unloaded and underway in the wake of the first boat; as they headed left toward the main body of the lake, I paddled west under the bridge over Highway 19 toward the wetlands and feeder creeks flowing into this west end of the lake.

As I moved out of the shelter of the launching area, I could feel the wind increasing and the waves building out of the south.  Traveling west required me to paddle across the southwest wind with a following sea. 

I skirted the northern shoreline as I headed toward the wetlands and Battle Creek. At the end of this western arm of Lake Vermillion, there are two main creeks that flow from the surrounding wetlands; it is easy to paddle into these creeks and continue upstream through the twisting and increasingly narrow waterways.

Shortly after entering the Battle Creek flow, I came across a very large beaver lodge.  As I approached the lodge for a closer look, I saw a large beaver working just outside the structure.  After I managed to get close enough for a quick photo, the beaver disappeared underwater.

There were a lot of ducks in these feeder creeks; as I approached, these flighty creatures rose up and flew away, sometimes in groups of five or six, to avoid my kayak.  I found it impossible to capture them on camera because of their rapid response to my presence.

As is my custom, I followed the creeks as far as possible into the wetlands.  On the first entry along this waterway, I came to a point where it seemed as though I was in a pasture in the presence of many cows.   Rather that spook the cattle, I just turned around and proceeded to the second creek entrance.

This path led me past a large home build on a bluff over Battle Creek and into a rather long waterway that twisted itself along the contours of a hilly landscape.  This waterway was increasingly narrow but deep.  Even as the waterway grew so narrow that I wondered if I could turn around, the water remained 4-6 feet deep.

I continued deep into the wetlands and was not too concerned as the waterway narrowed to just two or three feet.  The kayak moved easily along this course up to a point where I could just not proceed further.  By that point, I knew that I would have to back downstream; there was no room to turn around.  But, I found that I could not negotiate the curving course of the waterway backwards.  I had to heave myself out of the kayak, drag it up on top of the bank, and turn it around for the return trip.

It is not easy to get out of a kayak with relatively high banks and a deep waterway. This sort of maneuver can easily lead to a spill; while not likely to be dangerous, it a way to ruin my camera and fall into the deep slit of a waterway. In any event, I made it okay and began the return trip.

The wind had continued to increase out of the south.  This meant that I would have to fight the waves as I returned across their march north.  For the first mile, there was a shelterbelt of tall evergreens and a reasonably high bank on the lee side.  I could cruise back east while looking at the whitecaps on the lake off to my left.  This uneventful passage continued until I passed under the bridge again and hit the main body of the lake.  The wave action had become heavy and I had no alternative than to paddle across building waves on my way to the launching area on the north side.

I had some anxiety as I hit these whitecap waves that were coming broadside to me.  My response was to keep close to the bank and maneuver the kayak so that I could keep out of the trough of the waves.  The bow was buried in oncoming waves and spray blew back into my face and soaked my clothing.  A sprayskirt would have been nice, but I don’t have one. Taking photos of the wave conditions did not seem like a great idea to me at the time.

Still, I made it back okay after being out on the water for about two hours.  The west end of Lake Vermillion is much more interesting than just proceeding up the main body of the lake.  I like exploring the flow of the Vermillion River as it transitions into the lake, but that requires a long paddle north – too far for me anymore.  Although there must certainly be fishing boats that venture up the western end of the lake, I have never come across one.

For other narratives describing past cruises on Lake Vermillion, please check the inventory of area waterways on the left side of the blog.  To access the full set of photographs of this cruise, please access my Flickr set inventory at the following URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jayheath/sets/72157629667340362/

Lake Vermillion - the west end, up the creek

After a long set of dreary days, the forecast for today promised a brief return to spring weather: partly sunny, a temperature up to perhaps 70 degrees, winds from 10-20 mph, and NO RAIN. I got up this morning shortly after 5:00 a.m., loaded up my kayak, and set out in the dawn for my morning read, coffee, and a bagel at my habitual breakfast spot before heading west to Lake Vermillion.

As the highway was full of people commuting to their jobs, I headed west out of town along Interstate 90 to the turnoff to the Lake Vermillion State Recreation Area. I turned south at the Montrose exit; there is a sculpture garden on the south side of this exit featuring large metal sculpture works visible from the Interstate, a Hittite-like bull with curved horns prominent among them.

The Recreation Area was deserted as I arrived, as is nearly always the case on these early (7:45 a.m.) morning mid-week cruises. The temperature was in the 30s, and I had to wear a jacket and gloves. My pfd functioned sort of like a vest to keep me warm. I had decided to cruise down the west arm of the lake to the feeder creek coming out of the northwest wetlands.

I headed into choppy waters on the way down the western arm to the northern feeder creek. Toward the end of the western arm, I came across a flock of about eight pelicans. This is the end of the lake that is surrounded by deep reeds, some elevation along the banks, and lots of vegetation. There are a couple of feeder creeks that lead back into the wetlands.

Once into the creek, the higher banks tended to provide a lee to the winds. I saw lots of nesting ducks of several varieties. The feeder creek started out at about 25 feet in width and progressively narrowed down as I continued north. The depth ranged from five to about three feet.

I continued north, much as I have done before, until reaching a set of rocky rapids that did not permit further passage. By this point, the creek was much narrower than my kayak, and the biggest challenge was finding a spot wide enough to turn around.

Coming back down the creek was especially tranquil. The wind was blowing softly through the bare trees and brush and the sound of birds was constant. The trees had perching birds, such as redwing blackbirds, there were many ducks that darted about, pelicans overhead, and seagulls. I just used my rudder to steer and floated quietly along the waterway observing the spring bird life and the changing landscape. Winter brown is being replaced by budding bushes and green grass.


On this trip, I got out of the kayak and traveled along a deer trail through the high brown grass to an elevation offering a view of the course of the creek. This was the first time that I have done this. I’m afraid that a little later in the season would have left me with a full compliment of ticks to deal with. I remember bringing my Folbot to the shore on the Vermillion River that feeds into Lake Vermillion on the northeaster end and finding a dozen or so ticks on the fabric of the boat. I try to avoid ticks as best as I can.

Coming back to the launch area, I rode along with wind-driven waves that were perhaps six to eight inches in height. I passed the pelicans again. Arriving at the dock, I was still the only person in the area. It was a pleasant beginning to the day, and I really like these morning cruises.

Lake Vermillion - Early Summer 2010

I last visited Lake Vermillion in early April, nearly three months ago. At that time the landscape was still cast in the brown shades of early spring and there was a bit of snow still on the north-facing banks. My cruise then was up into the western arm of the lake and into the feeder creeks draining the watershed of the area.

Today, I decided to check out the changes that have taken place over the past three months along the same route I traveled then. The Lake Vermillion Recreation Area is located west of Sioux Falls. One route there is to go west on Highway 42 out of Sioux Falls, a few miles past Highway 19 and then north. The direction is indicated by a sign along Highway 42, and the LVRA is five miles north. Another route is along Interstate 90, west out of Sioux Falls to the turn-off south about six miles west of Highway 19 and then south about five miles. Today, I traveled along the Interstate going out to LVRA and then came back on Highway 42.

There were a few trailers for fishing boats out on the lake, but since I was going along the western arm, I did not see anyone else. The western arm is the more peaceful route for a kayak because it is largely unused. I have never seen another boat on that section of the lake, and today was no exception.

I suppose that motorboats are reluctant to use the western arm because of the grasses in the lake that may become caught up in the propeller. The water is deep in the main channel of this western arm, but there is also a good deal of aquatic grasses growing throughout, particularly along the shores and in the inlets flowing from the watershed. That might suggest difficulty for fishermen using outboard motors.

The main body of the lake is just a large body of water oriented north and south and does not offer much in the way of bays for exploration. The most interesting aspect of the main body of the lake is the Vermillion River at the northern end that feeds into the lake. The trouble, however, is that it takes about an hour to kayak up to that end. If the wind is in a contrary direction, it can be a long slog up or down the lake. Sticking to the western arm eliminates the long paddle north to the river and still offers the opportunity to poke around in the weeds.

There are a couple of inlets to this western arm, and I really like to go up these waterways until it becomes impossible to proceed further. The inlets are my favorite aspect of cruising on Lake Vermillion. The western arm extends from the LVRA docking area up into the mouths of a couple of creeks entering the main body of the lake. The mouth of these creeks lead into gradually narrowing waterways that extend nearly a mile into the watershed.

I like to enter these areas because they seem like seldom visited places – secret waterways within a unique ecological setting. There are two waterways that extend deep into the landscape, and they are both at the western end of the arm. The northwestern entry begins almost as a river and gradually narrows deep into the watershed to a width of about two feet. I like to go as far as possible in my kayak, right up to whatever blocks further passage. The water in these inlets, even in the narrowest portion, was no less than three feet, and often four or five feet deep.

A problem in going so far into the inlet is the difficulty of turning around. Today, as well as on my last trip to LVRA, I got deep into the weeds and could not turn the kayak around. An exit required a few hundred yards of moving backward down the channel.


I saw some ducks today, a couple of beaver, a deer, and lots of jumping carp. The carp were very large, and they made quite an impact as they jumped up out of the water. I could see them resting or moving slowly just below the surface, sometimes alongside the kayak. Their jumping can be startling if unexpected. I was not bothered by bugs on this cruise: no mosquitoes, no gnats, no flies. My wife remarks about how unaffected I seem to be by mosquitoes, but I didn't even see any on the cruise today - even though I was deep in the marsh of the western arm.

Today, the landscape was green, in contrast to the drab brown of my last trip. I had enough time to enjoy the setting and felt privileged to be a guest in this secret area, this special part of the lake environment that is seldom seen by people. My cruise lasted about 90 minutes today.

Interested readers can check out other narratives and photos of the LVRA in earlier posts found in the menu along the right side of the blog.

Lake Vermillion - Up the West End - April 2010

Continuing to take advantage of this streak of beautiful early spring days here on the northern plains, I decided to go to Lake Vermillion State Park this morning. In the spring, with waters so cold and my isolation as the only boat on the water, I try to stick to area waterways that are easily accessible and have a shoreline that extends deep into shallow parts of the watershed. I don’t have much interest in heading out across the wide parts of isolated lakes when a capsize would present a life-threatening situation.

Lake Vermillion State Park is west of Sioux Falls along Highway 42 (West 12th Street), and then north about four miles. The turn-off from Highway 42 is clearly marked. I arrived at 8:00 a.m. under partly cloudy skies and a temperature of about 42 degrees. As nearly always, the area was completely deserted. The lake surface was mirror smooth; the shoreline was encircled by reflections of the bare trees and bushes. There was some snow still visible under the trees in deep shadow.

I headed out from the launching area and turned right into the southern pass, headed west under the bridge, and entered that portion of the lake seldom visited by power boats. This is the shallow area with fingers extending deep into the watershed.

As I moved into the west end, I came across a big group of pelicans spread across the lake. They moved west as I paddled toward them, but eventually the distance closed until they flew off, circled around as I passed, and then landed again on the surface to continue their activities as before

I continued on into the first of the bays that open to the north of this western arm of the lake. Soon, I spotted the first of several beaver that were crossing from the northern side of the arm. They were too crafty for me to get very close. When they spotted or sensed me, they tended to dive out of sight. Since the morning was so chilly, I was wearing gloves to paddle. By the time I could get the gloves off and my camera out of its case, the beaver would typically be vanishing.

There were a good many geese and ducks about, all seemingly calling to each other. I passed them along the shoreline, and they seldom remained in place long enough for me to get my camera out.

With the abundance of water at this time of the year, this western arm of the lake has many creeks, both permanent and temporary, flowing into the main body. I like to move deep into the watershed to follow these creeks until I can’t navigate any further. This takes me very far from the main body, up gradually narrowing streams, sometimes for half-a-mile or more. This deep into the narrow waterways, large waterfowl disappear, although perching birds remain plentiful.


The waterway tends to get so narrow that it is not possible to turn the kayak around, and it becomes necessary to paddle backwards for a hundred yards or so. There was plenty of depth to the water in these waterways, usually from two to four feet.

After wandering around in the waterways for 45 minutes or so, I headed back to the dock. Altogether, my cruise this morning was nearly two hours.

A few days ago, my wife and I were out hiking in the Perry Nature Center east of Sioux Falls with our dog. We happened across a birdwatcher who had several plastic containers and some rusted out junk in his hands that he had picked up to discard in a trash container or carry home and place in his own garbage. I have often thought that each of us ought to make some minor effort on our hikes or paddles to pick up some trash, to leave the site a little bit better than we found it. So, I have begun carrying a plastic bag in my kayak and have been filling it up on each cruise. Usually, I pick up five or six plastic bottles and a few beer cans. I feel a little righteous about making this even minor contribution to a cleaner outdoors environment.

Lake Vermillion - up the west side into the east fork of the Vermillion River

Taking advantage of a cooler day with light winds, I decided to go out to the Lake Vermillion State Recreation Area for a cruise up the west side of the main body into the east fork of the Vermillion River. Lake Vermillion is shaped rather like the letter “J” with the main part of the lake running north and south. At the south end of the lake is a dam along with an arm that extends to the west up into the marshes of the Battle Creek area. The main part of the lake extends north about three miles from the dock in the park to the entrance into the east fork of the Vermillion River. As a paddler travels north on the lake, the body narrows at the northern end where it runs into the river. There is little current in the river because of the impoundment, but there is good depth for at least a couple of miles, and perhaps further. The surface area of the lake is 513 acres, nearly six times as large as Lake Alvin.


There are three bays along the west side of the lake that extend inland. I like moving up these waterways to check out the wildlife and flora. In one of the bays, I found both the underwater and surface plant growth to be so heavy that I just glided along on top of the plant material using the flat surface of my paddle. In the largest bay, there is a feeder creek coming into the lake, but there was a barbed wire fence a little way in that closed off further entry.


I was particularly interested in moving up into the Vermillion River, and arrived at that point about an hour and fifteen minutes into the cruise. There was a wind out of the north at about 15 mph, and I thought that the return trip back to the dock would be easy. I brought along my sail, and the plan was to continue up into the river for a couple of miles and then to use the sail to ease my paddling back to the dock. So, I continued up the river until I reached a light tower that was visible way back on the main body of the lake. This tower, I think, must be a signal used by the airport to keep aircraft on a glide path to the runway further east. At least, there is a white beacon light flashing from the top and no other obvious function for the tower. The river was full and the water was deep across the entire channel. After about two hours of paddling, I wanted to get out of the boat and walk around a bit. Unfortunately, however, there was no place to easily get ashore. The water was deep right up to a vertical bank, and then big marsh plants were thick alongside. This situation makes getting out of a kayak a little tricky. There were no shelving areas along the course of the river for that entire two miles or so.

There was lots of bird life along the marshes and in the river, including great blue heron, egrets, and hawks. I did not see any pelicans today, nor were there any geese. While not present in overwhelming numbers, there were a few jumping carp; in fact, my kayak was struck a couple of times by surfacing carp.


When I got as far up the river as I wanted to go, I got my sail ready and anticipated a leisurely ride back to the dock with a nice assist from the steady 15 mph breeze out of the north. To my chagrin, however, I found that I had left the mast step to hold the sail onto the boat in the trunk of my car. So, I had the sail but no step to secure it to the hull. The plan for a five-mile ride in the shade back to the dock was shattered. I was also pooping out from the long paddle into the wind. The long slog back down the lake and over to the dock was tedious: 100 driving strokes, 100 easy strokes, a few minutes of holding the sail up like an umbrella – a routine that kept me moving. I just churned down the middle of the lake trying to cut corners and keep into the following wind.

Finally, I arrived back at the dock after my three-hour paddle with no stop. Fortunately, there is a toilet situated just at the head of the dock within the recreation area.

Heading up the west side of the lake and into the river is a very nice cruise. I especially like moving up into the river and all the wildlife that offers. It is also a very isolated area with no powerboats nor anybody fishing. I like this sort of environment, and it is too bad that such a long paddle up the lake seems to always be associated with this cruise. There must be an access point further north, but I haven’t found it as yet. Of course, the cruise would have been a lot easier if I had carefully checked all my gear to ensure that everything was set. It was disappointing not to be able to sail back as I had envisioned.

Interested readers can check out other observations of my cruises on Lake Vermillion by accessing the link on the right side of the blog.