Lake Sakakawea

Lake Sakakawea is an artificial reservoir in North Dakota created by the Garrison Dam on the Missouri River. The shoreline winds through rolling prairie hills, forming bays, peninsulas and long arms that create thousands of kilometers of waterfront across the central part of the state.

The Garrison Dam was completed in the mid-fifties of the twentieth century, creating this massive reservoir on the Missouri. Flooding displaced several Fort Berthold Indian Reservation communities, whose residents lost ancestral villages and farmland beneath the rising waters.

Named after Sakakawea, a Shoshone-Hidatsa woman from the region, the reservoir honors her role in guiding explorers through these lands. Her presence during the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the early nineteenth century connects this modern lake to the area's indigenous heritage.

Lake Sakakawea State Park offers boat ramps, campsites and fishing spots along the southern shore. Trails wind through hills above the water, giving views over the wide surface and surrounding prairie grassland.

The North Country National Scenic Trail begins at this reservoir and runs roughly 7700 kilometers (4800 miles) east to Vermont. This route crosses eight states and ranks among the longest hiking trails in the country, with its western terminus resting here at the water's edge.

Location: North Dakota

Elevation above the sea: 554 m

GPS coordinates: 47.49806,-101.41278

Latest update: December 17, 2025 10:02