Lake Oahe

Travel Destinations

Moderator: MK

Post Reply
davec
Posts: 195
Joined: Tue Feb 25, 2003 1:38 am

Lake Oahe

Post by davec »

I spent 8 days starting Labor day weekend of 07 exploring this huge lake in central South Dakota. Its actually a resevoir on the Missouri river that is about 250 miles long starting at Bismark ND and ending at Peirre SD. I spent my time exploring southern lake Oahe because this is were the river is the widest and it has many bends so it would be easy to find a stretch of river were the wind would becoming in clean.

The Weather
I had 6 out of 8 days being windy and incredible riding. It ranged from perfectly steady 20 meter kiting days to full on 4.5 windsurfing day with huge swell. Even the 4.5 windsurfing day was steadier wind then I ever sail in in MN. There was never a lull that I couldn't plane in. But I'd have to say my favorite days were on my 20 meter it was so easy to find flat water and the wind was steadier then I ever thought possible. I started watching the forecast for Pierre a few days before I left MN and every time I checked the currents its was blowing in the 20 to 30 mph range, so I thought by the time I got there It would be all over but it just kept on blowing. I don't know If I just got lucky or if this place really is that windy, the locals swear it is. The tempature was 95-105 deg. every day except for my last day when that big NWster came through and the daytime temp dropped to about 55. For forecasts check Pierre and Mobridge. They give forcasts for southern lake Oahe over the weather radio to witch I recommend getting if you go cause there is no cell phone service so it was the only way for me to get a forecast.

Riding spots
I set up camp at a place called Pike Haven. Its a fishing resort with cabins and a tent spot. The owners were very nice people and very kite friendly, they had never seen such a thing and would love to see more of us out there. You can ride rite from Pike Haven with is good for S to SW winds and is excellent for NW and ok for N winds. The only draw back is the shoreline there is all shale rock witch is pretty sharp so you have to be very carefull with your kite so you don't put a hole in them. Straight across Pike Haven is sandy beaches that would be good for S to SE and N to NE, but you can only get to there by boat.

For east winds go to Chantier Creek, Its beautiful riding there it should also work for NE

For S and SE Little bend is one of my favorites the wind has a huge fetch and you can find lots of flat water, also will probably work for west winds.

For W and NE winds you got to check out Bush's landing I didn't get to ride there but it looks like there could be some sick flat water spots there.

That was most of the spots that I checked out and thought would be good. I checked out others that wouldn't be good for any wind direction. And I marked off ones on my map that look like they could be great to but I never got around to checking out. Here is a map of most of the recreation areas. https://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/html/Lak ... cinfo.html

I mentioned flat water spots above this is because the whole shoreline of this lake is points, inlets, coves, little bays and even islands that have zero trees on them so they block the waves but not the wind at least not for a kite. This makes launching a kite very easy because no matter were I was Even if it was on shore winds There was some type of point that I could just stand on shore and let my kite drift away from me and launch.

Other Activities
When the wind wasn’t blowing the kayaking was beautiful the water would be like glass.
This is supposed to be a great fresh water scuba diving location to. The water is suprisingly very clear and there’s reminents of old buildings under water that were left when the Damn was build and the river was flooded. Spearing fish is also legal while Scuba Diving on this lake. This lake is in a very rugged and remote area so if your not into roughing it this might not be the place for you, its definitely a different type of kitting location and I love it! There’s really no night life going on there It was usually hanging out at the Bar/super club at Pike’s were I most mention they had nothing but the cutest girls in SD working. :D

The best part is this place is so close it took less then 6 hrs to get there. Witch leaves this place as a great option for a 3 or 4 day weekend. I think kiters will appreciate Oahe more then windsurfers because of the flat water spots and steady winds. I had many great kiting days but only a few that would have been good windsurfing. Check the photo section for for pics of the lake. http://www.lakawa.com/lakawaphoto/albums.php?show=142
Chris
Posts: 131
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2003 10:26 am

Post by Chris »

One of those photos belongs in the "beach voyeur" section. Is that one of the cuties from the bar?
Post Reply