Lake Sharpe, locat­ed on South Dako­ta High­ways 50 and 47 near Cham­ber­lain, and Reliance, is one of the four reser­voirs con­struct­ed along the Mis­souri Riv­er in South Dako­ta. (The oth­er three are Lewis and Clark Lake, Lake Oahe, and Lake Fran­cis Case). Lake Sharpe was named after a for­mer South Dako­ta Gov­er­nor, Mer­rill Q. Sharpe, who was influ­en­tial in the con­struc­tion of the dams and reser­voirs along the Mis­souri Riv­er. Stretch­ing 80 miles long and with 200 miles of shore­line, Lake Sharpe is a great place for, fish­ing, hik­ing, bik­ing, swim­ming, camp­ing, hunt­ing, boat­ing, or wildlife observ­ing.

Lake Sharpe was cre­at­ed by impound­ing the Mis­souri Riv­er near Fort Thomp­son. Sev­en miles upstream from the dam, is a unique bend in the Mis­souri Riv­er. At this bend, the Mis­souri makes almost a com­plete loop, before return­ing to the “neck” where the land is not quite a mile wide, hence the name Big Bend Dam. Con­struc­tion began in 1959, as project of the U.S. Army Corps of Engi­neer under the Pick-Sloan Plan. The Dam was com­plet­ed in 1964 and mea­sures approx­i­mate­ly 10,570 feet long and 95 feet high, it now pro­vides flood con­trol, con­ser­va­tion of fish and wildlife, irri­ga­tion, hydropow­er, and recre­ation.

Fish­ing and Hunt­ing are two pop­u­lar activ­i­ties along Lake Sharpe. All pub­lic lands around the Lake Sharpe are open to hunt­ing, except for devel­oped recre­ation areas. Hunt­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties include, water fowl, upland game birds and big game. White­tail and mule deer, as well as elk, bison, coy­otes and wild turkeys, are the big game ani­mals you can expect to find. The water­fowl and upland game birds include ducks, grouse, prairie chick­ens, geese, and pheas­ants. Hunt­ing reg­u­la­tions are estab­lished and enforced by the State of South Dako­ta, and the Low­er Brule and Crow Creek Tribes. Wall­eye, large and small mouth bass, north­ern pike, cat­fish, and white bass are the fish of choice in Lake Sharpe. If fish­ing on reser­va­tion land a Trib­al license is required.

There are 19 recre­ation areas along Lake Sharpe oper­at­ed by the Corps of Engi­neers, the State of South Dako­ta, and Low­er Brule Sioux Tribe. High­ly devel­oped recre­ation areas like Left Tail­race and West Bend, include camp­sites with elec­tri­cal hookups, show­er hous­es, pic­nic shel­ters, boat ramps, fish clean­ing sta­tions, and amphithe­aters. Prim­i­tive recre­ation areas are also avail­able, such as the North and South Iron Sta­tion. Lake Sharpe is a great fam­i­ly retreat. Whether you are look­ing for a relax­ing time on the sandy beach­es, or to be exhil­a­rat­ed by the hunt of big game there is always some­thing to do at Lake Sharpe.

Area: 228,45 sq. km., vol­ume: 2343,6001 cubic meters, depth avg: 10,3 m, shore length: 340,70999 m, res time: 27,5, ele­va­tion: 429