Swan Lake: Late Summer 2012

It has been six years since I last visited Swan Lake, located between Hurley and Viborg, SD, just to the west off State Highway 19.  The major access point to the lake can be reached by turning off Highway 19 at 288^th  Street  and going west to 455^th Avenue.  Signs at that point will provide direction into the lake community.

The put-in is a state provided access point within a developed area on the south shore of the lake.   This access point is very limited with sparse parking and no toilet. There is a shoreline road that continues around the eastern end of the lake and passes by another two public access areas, but these seemed to me to be largely provided for shoreline fishing.

Dave Finck, one of my paddling pals, came by this morning at 9:00 a.m. with his trailer, and we loaded up my kayak alongside his.  Stopping to pick up Randy, we three headed to Swan Lake.  The lake site is not easily found without a detailed map, such as the South Dakota Atlas and Gazetteer.  Like many of us, we thought that we could easily locate the lake from our memory of past trips there, so we drove around in the general direction and missed the correct turn-off.  Recovering, though, we made it to the launching site and found that we were the only boats on the lake, as is typical on a weekday after school has begun.  In fact, we hardly even saw another person, even though there are cabins along some parts of the lake.

We set off heading over to the first of two islands in the lake, the smaller one just off the southern shore.  There was a light breeze over the water, the temperature was in the low 70s, and the sky was sunny: a nearly perfect day for a cruise.

While there are cabins set along the southern shore and extending inland a little, there are also large sections of the shoreline that are wooded and free of housing.  Our route today was counterclockwise from the southern shore, along the east side, along the northern shoreline and into the shallower section of the lake in the western arm.  We returned along the southern shore to the first island and then beached out kayaks at the put-in used initially.

There is a second island located in the middle of the widest portion of the lake near the eastern shore. The eastern shore is wooded, as are the islands.  Cabins are scattered along the southeastern and northeastern shore, and there is a Christian Youth Camp located along the southwestern shore.  The western third of the lake is posted for “no motorboats.”  The northwestern shore is largely treeless with tall grass up to the shoreline.

We saw a large great blue heron that kept leaping ahead of us, but always reappearing along our cruise. Otherwise, we saw only limited wildlife along the way.

There was plenty of depth for our cruise.  Greater depth was found in the eastern portion of the lake, and depth gradually shelved in the western arm.  The lake seems two or three feet down from normal levels, although we had no problems with our kayaks as we paddled around the entire perimeter of the lake.

The lake is 208 acres in surface area, which is about twice the size of Lake Alvin.  The widest portion is in the eastern end and is about half a mile across at that point.  Swan Lake is generally oriented east and west, and the distance from those two ends is about one and a-half miles.

The wind came up out of the west as we were concluding our cruise, and we were riding a following sea on the return.  As we neared the end of our circuit, we decided to paddle around the smaller island off the south shoreline just to ride through the waves.

Our time on the water today was about an hour and a-half. It was a nice cruise over a varied landscape.  Swan Lake is about 45 minutes away from my eastside Sioux Falls home, and that puts it at the margin of what I consider a reasonable distance.  Again, my own rule of thumb is that I want to spend more time on the water than on the drive.

Interested readers can read my narrative from five years ago by accessing it on the menu of area waterways located on the right side of the blog page. In addition, the full set of photographs from the cruise today can be accessed on my Flick account at the following URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jayheath/sets/72157631426053798/

Swan Lake

Today I took my kayak out to Swan Lake, located between Hurley and Viborg just off of SD Highway 19 and about 45 miles from my eastside Sioux Falls home. Swan Lake is about the same size as Wall Lake, but the development is much less intense. The state has provided an access point along the southern shore of the lake, but this is a "bare bones" launching ramp. There is no restroom located at this point and parking is quite limited. Still, I arrived at mid-morning, mid-week, and there were no other cars or boats in the area. The ramp is located among a set of lake properties that have been build along this shore.

The lake itself is oriented generally east and west. Development is located in scattered parts of the eastern part of the lake on both the south and north shores. The lake homes seem more modest than those at Wall Lake, and I would guess that there is a "lake community" of summer residents living there. The far eastern shore has a stand of trees and there is tall grass growing up along the shore line. I saw a muskrat swimming through the lake grasses. Two wooded islands are located in the wide part of the lake, the eastern half.

While I was paddling, there was a power boat out on the lake towing a big tube with riders. This was the only boat I saw on the lake, but many were on ramps beside lake cabins. Power boats are restricted to the eastern “main” portion of the lake. The western side is posted for “No Motorboats.” This western side opens up from a narrow strait and extends back into an area surrounded by tall grass. This grass creates a nice lee from the winds, and it is the sort of place where some wildlife might be seen. On this trip, I saw only a single great blue heron in this portion of the lake. Paddling the perimeter of the lake takes about an hour.

Generally, I thought that the lake offers a pleasant cruise around the perimeter. It is always enjoyable to cruise around islands, and there is still a good portion of the lake shore that is not occupied with cabins. On an earlier trip to this lake, I observed more waterfowl, but this time there was only that single great blue heron. So, Swan Lake would not seem among the most interesting for observing wildlife. The lake was surprisingly clear with virtually no algae growth. Going to Swan Lake is an opportunity to see another nearby summer lake community, a good location for a good one-hour tranquil paddle. A big downside for many would be the lack of a restroom at the launching area. Driving an hour from Sioux Falls, a good paddle, and the ride back to Sioux Falls can put something of a strain on the capacity of nearly anyone.