Head up to Lake Sakakawea near Bismark for some camping in your RV, and you'll be pitching up at the second biggest reservoir in the United States. The lake covers over three thousand acres of terrain in North Dakota and stretches through six different counties. Lake Sakakawea was formed after the US Army Corps of Engineers built the Garrison Dam, impounding part of the Missouri River and flooding the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.
The serpentine lake has a ragged shoreline over 1300 miles long with multiple branches surrounded by wildlife management areas and parklands. Dotted with islands formed by limestone cliffs jutting out of the water, Lake Sakakawea is as scenic as any Mediterranean landscape and one of the most idyllic places to go RV Camping in the north-east of the US.
Over fourteen miles wide in parts, Lake Sakakawea is every boat owner's dream. Boating, whether by sail, motor, or paddle powered, is a regular summertime activity. There are phenomenal trails for hiking, including part of the North Country National Scenic Trail in the Lake Sakakawea State Park which borders the lake. As well as great fishing and hunting, there are some interesting wrecks near the dam that are good spots for scuba diving. If you're into underwater fishing, you can spearfish at the lake too. When the temperatures drop and there's snow on the ground, Lake Sakakawea becomes a winter wonderland for snowshoeing and cross country skiing. Of the thirty-plus campgrounds around the shores of Lake Sakakawea, two are managed by the COE. Of the two, one has full utilities and one is primitive, so make sure you reserve the campsite best suited to your RV trip to Lake Sakakawea.
Which campground you're pitching your RV at when you arrive at Lake Sakakawea will determine the route you'll need to take to get there. Give yourself plenty of traveling time as the lake's size and remoteness mean you'll be on the road for a quite while. If you're coming in from the south of the state, the best place to head to is Bismark where you can join the US 83 northbound to get to the lake. Calculate on taking around three and a half hours from Bismark and another half an hour to reach your chosen campground. The road conditions are good and relatively straight, so even if you're in a big rig, the journey should be problem-free.
If you've been over in Wyoming visiting the geysers in the Yellowstone National Park for a few days and are changing campsites, you'll have a seven-hundred-mile trip before you're parking up again. It's a journey worth taking your time over. You'll be cruising through some wide-open prairies where, if you keep your eyes peeled, you might spot some wandering bison in the distance.
Wolf Creek is the primitive Corps campground at Sakakawea Lake. The campground offers RV campers a choice of almost seventy, non-electric, waterfront campsites in a grass field. The campsites are not paved but surfaced with grass, so they can get sodden after heavy rainfall. Each campsite has a picnic table and grill for breakfasts, lunches or dinners out in the open with amazing lake views.
The campground's on-site facilities are basic and include vault toilets, dump stations, a fish cleaning station, and a volleyball court. There is an accessible boat ramp, though boaters should be aware the road leading to it is surfaced with dirt and loose gravel. After bad weather, it could be difficult to negotiate with a heavy vehicle.
The Downstream Campground at Sakakawea Lake is in a wooded location on the banks of the Missouri River. There are over a hundred campsites to choose from, ninety-eight of which have electric hook-ups. The paved sites, all with grills and picnic tables, are spread around three loops connected by well-surfaced roads which are easy to negotiate no matter what size of RV you're driving.
The campground amenities are standard with both flush and vault toilets, showers, water hook-ups, and dump stations. There are several accessible facilities including a playground, fishing dock, showers, and restrooms, as well as an on-site host for assistance when needed. There are interpretive trails leading out of the campground to the National Fish Hatchery and an area of sand dunes by the river for exploring.
Lake Sakakawea is growing in reputation and popularity as being one of the best lakes for scuba diving in North Dakota. Suit up and get your tank on, then submerge beneath the waters near Garrison Dam. You'll find petrified wood, fossils and debris left over from the pre-flooding days.
If learning to dive is one of your vacation ambitions, you can sign up for a PADI Open Water Course at a dive shop in Garrison and take your first dive in the lake during June, July or August.
Take a tour around the Three Tribes Museum in New Town, North Dakota, to discover interesting facts about the area you're camped in and its native inhabitants. The terrains where Lake Sakakawea now lies were once the reservation lands of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara tribes. In the interpretation center, you'll find artifacts and documentation detailing their history and subsequent displacement. The museum opens from May through to the end of October.
The waters of Lake Sakakawea are rich with many different types of fish. Whether you're chancing your luck and casting hook and line from the shore, a boat or going in with a spear, you'll have the opportunity to catch catfish, walleye, bluegill or trout. If trout is what you're after, there's a well-stocked fishing pond with a pier near the Downstream campground. From there you can also hike to the National Fish Hatchery where the fish that stock the lake are bred. Anglers in North Dakota don't store their tackle once the lake is frozen over in winter, but head down there for some competitive ice fishing.
If you're unable to get a campsite at the Corps campgrounds at Sakakawea Lake, try the East Totten Trail Campground at Lake Audubon and you won't be far away. Lake Sakakawea and Lake Audubon run one into the other and are only divided by the road bridge carrying the US 83. The East Totten Trail campground has thirty, paved or gravel-surfaced, campsites with electric hook-ups suitable for RVs plus ten primitive sites with no utilities. Trees shade the campsites, and nearly all have beautiful views onto the lake as well as fire rings and barbecues.
If you were hoping to go boating at Lake Sakakawea, you still can as the East Totten Trail Campground has an accessible boat ramp. Other on-site amenities include a fishing dock, picnic areas, and a playground. There are no communal showers, but the campground does have a block of vault toilets and a water spigot for public use.
You can engage in all manner of water sports on the immense expanse of Lake Sakakawea. There are numerous boat launch sites around the lake shores plus a marina and two more multi-lane ramps in the Sakakawea Lake State Park.
The lake is ideal for fans of kayaks and canoes as there are interesting shoreline areas and islands to circumnavigate. There's plenty of space to let rip on a jet ski without worrying about upsetting anyone with the noise and if you just want a gentle cruise around, you'll be in the right place for that too.
Whether you want to undertake a short, quarter-mile stroll, a trek around the lakeside or are contemplating a mega hike along the North Country National Scenic Trail into the next state, head to the lands of the state park next to the lake and you'll find them all. The Shoreline Trail is a three-mile waterside hike good for spotting waterfowl or try the shorter Overlook Trail which will deliver up some beautiful scenic vistas of the prairies.
Spend a fascinating day learning about fish and how they're spawned at the Garrison Dam National Fish Hatchery. See the fish in a replica of their natural environment in the five aquariums or wander the trails around the outdoor breeding ponds. To get the low down on fish breeding, take a narrated tour, and you'll find out everything you want to know about fish reproduction. The hatchery is open twelve months of the year with extended hours during the summer.
