jbiker
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Anyone out there dive it? Cold all summer? We have a vacation home there... considering diving there this summer.
Lake Pactola in the Black Hills of South Dakota
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Collin E
Guest
I would like to make a dive their my self.
any info would be great!!!!
any info would be great!!!!
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I suppose that you have searched the net, but just in case...
Pactola Lake - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I doubt that there much left of the town but maybe, except it could be an entrapment hazard if not too deep to dive. Levels vary greatly.
The home page Home Page links to a local scuba shop Black Hills Scuba Ask about hiring a DM - money well spent.
This old report Scuba Shore Diving Site Page for: Pactola Lake, Rapid City of South Dakota, USA Mid suggests 7 mil suits. You'd also need a neoprene hood or beanie & gloves, and I like neoprene socks!
Pactola Lake - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I doubt that there much left of the town but maybe, except it could be an entrapment hazard if not too deep to dive. Levels vary greatly.
The home page Home Page links to a local scuba shop Black Hills Scuba Ask about hiring a DM - money well spent.
This old report Scuba Shore Diving Site Page for: Pactola Lake, Rapid City of South Dakota, USA Mid suggests 7 mil suits. You'd also need a neoprene hood or beanie & gloves, and I like neoprene socks!
A little more info on that lake PactolaReservoirSD page
I spent 15 years in the area and slipped my boat there for about 10 years.
It is cold all year round at depths below 100' - and "cold" in that sense means 35-39 degrees F. However it warms up nicely at shallower depths and by August you'll see tempos of perhpas 70-75 degrees on the surface to about 15', with 2-3 more thermoclines below that to round 100'. From 100' to 150' it is always cold, but on the positive side the visibaility is normally good at depth averaging 20'-30'.
Visibility near the surface can be good with 15-20' feet on average and I have seen 30-40' at times. However I have also seen relatively poor viz of 3-5' and worse. Also it will vary to some degree by location in the lake with viz in the main lake being generally good and the lake going up the canyon to the headwaters being generally poorer the farther up you go. You will also encounter differences in viz in differnet thermoclines and it is not uncommon in the summer to have pine pollen bring pea soup colored visibility, first throughout a water layer, and then in a dense layer on top of a thermocline.
Diving along the face of the dam is generally good and there are a couple small boats and a 56' chevy station wagon that serve as dive sites as well as various areas with interesting stuff in them. The original dam runs through this area in a gorge along the face of the dam a few hundred yards north of the island along the face and a hundred or so yards north of the outlet works for the dam. (if you get too close you'll start to hear it and you'll see everything moving in that direction, so unless your SA is poor, you'll safely avoid it. The depths in that area run 130-160 ft - depending on how high the water level is in particular year/time of year. Viz can be very good, but it is dark enough that you'll want a light. And there are (or at least were) some permanent lines in the area that aide navigation between some of the more interesting structures to and from the road bed above it (at about 100-110').
There are also several mooring buoys in place along the face and in a few of the bays, but they are maintained about 8-10' underwater to avoid a navigation hazard (and quite frankly because we never got a permit from the forest service to put them in - we just got tired of boats drifting off and dragging anchors on the bottom) so you have to know where to look to find them.
The face is primarily rip rap with the exception of the area around the island where the natural rock creates a nice wall dive at shallower depths (to 70' or so) and a steep slope to the max depth of the lake at around 150-160' in high water years.
Along the north side leading up the canyon just ptior to where it narrows is a vary steep wall that makes an excellent wall dive (it's location is obvious as it mirrors the terrain above water for the most part) and the depths go to around 110' in that area. There is a bay betwene this are and the north marina that used to have a CCC camp and a church camp and the foundations are still there, making for an interesting dive in fairly shallow water (20-40'). Viz there is great provided boats have not been dragging anchors there - and it is a popular spot for boats to anchor.
One of the better shallow water dive spots on the lake is "Airplane Cove" (no airplane there, just a spot where a floatplane used to park) on the western side of the main lake between the campground and south marina and it is more a series of 3 coves in a clover leaf arrangement. There is lots of life there with ample vegetation and loads of fish - almost reef like in numbers, just not as colorful (mostly blue gill, crappie, rock bass and some small mouth bass, with a few perch and the rare northern pike). There are also lots of cray fish and there is usually an annual crayfish dive and feed sponsored by a local dive club. As in most fresh water lakes, the vast majority of that life will be found above 30'.
At deeper depths in the cove, you'll find old construction left overs from the dam and some of the artifacts and finds can be interesting.
Diving around the island along the face itself is usually a good dive with consistently good viz and a nice mix of hard bottom (alomst confined water) between the island and the dam and a great wall on the other side. Swimmers jump off the rocks (about a 50' drop from the top) along the north end of the island, and diving below that area between the island and the dam always produces watches, sunglasses, and the occasional wallet (which always gets you the undying appreciation of the owner when you contact them and return it) if you look carefully in the rip rap.
There are upstream areas where swimmers also dive off the rocks, and they are equally fruitful, but it's a braille dive that far up the stream.
Generally speaking you need a boat to dive the lake effectively, although I've done it in a canoe and it is a perfect lake for kayak diving. Shore access is limited as you either have to contend with walking down rip-rap on the face or you end up diving off the swimming beach. You can access the water from the camp ground but that area is pretty uninteresting and is a broad, flat, shallow bay that is over grown with vegetation on the bottom. There used to be a road bed that ran from the north marina to the south marina and it runs off the swimmers beach in about 80-90' of water. It's actually not a bad dive, but it's a bit of a swim to get there. To the left of the swim beach you'll see the no wake zone for the marina. Diving along that line of buoys is a good place to find boat props, as if they lose the key securing them and spin the nut off the prop, the prop stayes on the shaft until they throttle back for the no wake zone. But take care not to block the channel with your dive flag.
SD is a mandatory dive flag state and boaters are supposed to stay 75' from them - but most don't and if they are running on a trolling motor, they can legally run right past it - creating a situation where the boats you can hear are kept away, while the boats you can't hear are allowed to run you over. That reflects the fact that there are a lot more voters who fish than there are voters who dive.
Personally, I used to leave my flag near my boat, and then go where ever and ensure I surfaced under the flag. Pactola is a great lake for a scooter diver (and you can scooter across the lake from east/west if you don't mind being 140-150' deep), but scootering and towing a dive flag is a PITA.
The north and south marinas there are both owned by the same business and Dave and Nancy are great people who also happen to be divers. They have boat rentals - either small fishing boats or pontoons and will rent in half and full day increments. They also have a store with some good lunch options. They are great people that I still miss.
Gas fills require planning as the nearest (only) dive shop is in Rapid City about 35 minutes away. Unless they have changed, the hours are from 10am-6pm M-F and 10am-2pm on Saturday. Thus, you need to get all the gas you need for the weekend on Saturday morning and need to be available during the week day hours to get fills, or give up some prime weekend dive time to get them fileld on Saturday. It's not an issue for someone living within RC, but if you are located away from RC and work weekdays, it's a potential problem. Rental gear presents similar issues for a non-local diver and requires availability on Monday to return it. They may have expanded their weekend or evening hours in the last 4 years and it may no longer be an issue, but it's a good idea to check.
It is cold all year round at depths below 100' - and "cold" in that sense means 35-39 degrees F. However it warms up nicely at shallower depths and by August you'll see tempos of perhpas 70-75 degrees on the surface to about 15', with 2-3 more thermoclines below that to round 100'. From 100' to 150' it is always cold, but on the positive side the visibaility is normally good at depth averaging 20'-30'.
Visibility near the surface can be good with 15-20' feet on average and I have seen 30-40' at times. However I have also seen relatively poor viz of 3-5' and worse. Also it will vary to some degree by location in the lake with viz in the main lake being generally good and the lake going up the canyon to the headwaters being generally poorer the farther up you go. You will also encounter differences in viz in differnet thermoclines and it is not uncommon in the summer to have pine pollen bring pea soup colored visibility, first throughout a water layer, and then in a dense layer on top of a thermocline.
Diving along the face of the dam is generally good and there are a couple small boats and a 56' chevy station wagon that serve as dive sites as well as various areas with interesting stuff in them. The original dam runs through this area in a gorge along the face of the dam a few hundred yards north of the island along the face and a hundred or so yards north of the outlet works for the dam. (if you get too close you'll start to hear it and you'll see everything moving in that direction, so unless your SA is poor, you'll safely avoid it. The depths in that area run 130-160 ft - depending on how high the water level is in particular year/time of year. Viz can be very good, but it is dark enough that you'll want a light. And there are (or at least were) some permanent lines in the area that aide navigation between some of the more interesting structures to and from the road bed above it (at about 100-110').
There are also several mooring buoys in place along the face and in a few of the bays, but they are maintained about 8-10' underwater to avoid a navigation hazard (and quite frankly because we never got a permit from the forest service to put them in - we just got tired of boats drifting off and dragging anchors on the bottom) so you have to know where to look to find them.
The face is primarily rip rap with the exception of the area around the island where the natural rock creates a nice wall dive at shallower depths (to 70' or so) and a steep slope to the max depth of the lake at around 150-160' in high water years.
Along the north side leading up the canyon just ptior to where it narrows is a vary steep wall that makes an excellent wall dive (it's location is obvious as it mirrors the terrain above water for the most part) and the depths go to around 110' in that area. There is a bay betwene this are and the north marina that used to have a CCC camp and a church camp and the foundations are still there, making for an interesting dive in fairly shallow water (20-40'). Viz there is great provided boats have not been dragging anchors there - and it is a popular spot for boats to anchor.
One of the better shallow water dive spots on the lake is "Airplane Cove" (no airplane there, just a spot where a floatplane used to park) on the western side of the main lake between the campground and south marina and it is more a series of 3 coves in a clover leaf arrangement. There is lots of life there with ample vegetation and loads of fish - almost reef like in numbers, just not as colorful (mostly blue gill, crappie, rock bass and some small mouth bass, with a few perch and the rare northern pike). There are also lots of cray fish and there is usually an annual crayfish dive and feed sponsored by a local dive club. As in most fresh water lakes, the vast majority of that life will be found above 30'.
At deeper depths in the cove, you'll find old construction left overs from the dam and some of the artifacts and finds can be interesting.
Diving around the island along the face itself is usually a good dive with consistently good viz and a nice mix of hard bottom (alomst confined water) between the island and the dam and a great wall on the other side. Swimmers jump off the rocks (about a 50' drop from the top) along the north end of the island, and diving below that area between the island and the dam always produces watches, sunglasses, and the occasional wallet (which always gets you the undying appreciation of the owner when you contact them and return it) if you look carefully in the rip rap.
There are upstream areas where swimmers also dive off the rocks, and they are equally fruitful, but it's a braille dive that far up the stream.
Generally speaking you need a boat to dive the lake effectively, although I've done it in a canoe and it is a perfect lake for kayak diving. Shore access is limited as you either have to contend with walking down rip-rap on the face or you end up diving off the swimming beach. You can access the water from the camp ground but that area is pretty uninteresting and is a broad, flat, shallow bay that is over grown with vegetation on the bottom. There used to be a road bed that ran from the north marina to the south marina and it runs off the swimmers beach in about 80-90' of water. It's actually not a bad dive, but it's a bit of a swim to get there. To the left of the swim beach you'll see the no wake zone for the marina. Diving along that line of buoys is a good place to find boat props, as if they lose the key securing them and spin the nut off the prop, the prop stayes on the shaft until they throttle back for the no wake zone. But take care not to block the channel with your dive flag.
SD is a mandatory dive flag state and boaters are supposed to stay 75' from them - but most don't and if they are running on a trolling motor, they can legally run right past it - creating a situation where the boats you can hear are kept away, while the boats you can't hear are allowed to run you over. That reflects the fact that there are a lot more voters who fish than there are voters who dive.
Personally, I used to leave my flag near my boat, and then go where ever and ensure I surfaced under the flag. Pactola is a great lake for a scooter diver (and you can scooter across the lake from east/west if you don't mind being 140-150' deep), but scootering and towing a dive flag is a PITA.
The north and south marinas there are both owned by the same business and Dave and Nancy are great people who also happen to be divers. They have boat rentals - either small fishing boats or pontoons and will rent in half and full day increments. They also have a store with some good lunch options. They are great people that I still miss.
Gas fills require planning as the nearest (only) dive shop is in Rapid City about 35 minutes away. Unless they have changed, the hours are from 10am-6pm M-F and 10am-2pm on Saturday. Thus, you need to get all the gas you need for the weekend on Saturday morning and need to be available during the week day hours to get fills, or give up some prime weekend dive time to get them fileld on Saturday. It's not an issue for someone living within RC, but if you are located away from RC and work weekdays, it's a potential problem. Rental gear presents similar issues for a non-local diver and requires availability on Monday to return it. They may have expanded their weekend or evening hours in the last 4 years and it may no longer be an issue, but it's a good idea to check.
Shasta_man
Contributor
Note to self: never think you know more about a place than DA Aquamaster. 
Collin E
Guest
WOW!!!! great info
thank you
I lived in the hill's for most of my life and had not heard a fraction of that info
thank you
I lived in the hill's for most of my life and had not heard a fraction of that info
BabyDuck
Contributor
shasta, there are *lots* of places he doesn't know - but pactola ain't one of them!
great write-up, sweetheart.
great write-up, sweetheart.
Reviving this thread.. As a former Elsworth AFB member and was assigned to several of the former missile sites. Just curious..have all the former (except D01, D06 and J01) missile sites have been distroyed?Yes..I know of the Minuteman Missile National Site.. Been there several times passing thrue to the Black Hills Rally.
Minuteman Missile National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)
Also interesting is the the fact that IANTD Headquarters is located in Rapid City.. Anyone been thrue a tec course out there? Would love to stop in this summer on the way to Black Hills Motorcycle Classic..
Thanks,
Clay
former MM Combat Crew @ F01
44SMW, 67SMS
Ellsworth AFB, Rapid City,SD
Minuteman Missile National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)
Also interesting is the the fact that IANTD Headquarters is located in Rapid City.. Anyone been thrue a tec course out there? Would love to stop in this summer on the way to Black Hills Motorcycle Classic..
Thanks,
Clay
former MM Combat Crew @ F01
44SMW, 67SMS
Ellsworth AFB, Rapid City,SD
2airishuman
Contributor
Planning a trip to the Black Hills and planning to dive Lake Pactola as part of the trip. Any recent or updated information? The dive shop in Rapid City appears to have closed, so I'm planning on hauling air from Minneapolis.
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