Canyon Lake - First Trip

Rapid City Parks and Recs doesn't include pictures of their parks on their website, so it is tricky to know which parks have a playground. We struck gold at Canyon Lake. There are 3 playgrounds here and a giant nature space. Our first visit we made it to two playgrounds, then explored the lake. I wasn't thinking about taking pictures of the playgrounds during this trip, so those will come later! They have this beautiful semi man made creek system throughout the park that flows from the lake, then on to little rock lined "creeks" with ponds between. At the red playground there is a perfect place to walk in a "creek". It has a rock bottom, and no wildlife. There is a fun little bridge to swim under, and we had fun sending a boat down with the current. I suggest parking here on Canyon Lake Dr. You have to drive through the park a bit to get to this space. There is plenty of parking in various spots around the lake and park. There are plenty of bathrooms and picnic spaces here. It is also stroller friendly throughout the park, so a great place for longer walks or bike rides. There is some shade due to the trees. This tree was so beautiful, that I might've given it a hug.

After playing in the "creek" at the playground, we wandered around to the real Rapid Creek portion of the park that flows from the lake after the dam. 

There is some interesting history here about the Black Hills Flood that you can read by the dam. There are some spots along the creek to wade in for any strong-ish swimmers. The current made me wary of letting the boys get all the way in the water, but we did see some men standing in the creek fishing for rainbow trout! Of course we then had to go purchase a fishing pole for M and plan him a fishing date with EZ. This is the exact fishing pole we purchased.






 We will back to Canyon Lake throughout the summer, so I will be sure to post again with pictures of the playgrounds. If you noticed, X ended up in just a diaper after getting his shorts wet, so we will make sure to pack our swimsuits too!!

Location: Canyon Lake Dr, Rapid City, SD 57702, USA

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