Mina Lake Recreation Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆 Northern Prairie Gem — 275-acre lake in Edmunds County — popular walleye and perch fishing in the “Glacial Lakes” region
Mina Lake Recreation Area centers on a 275-acre lake in Edmunds County — in the heart of South Dakota’s “Glacial Lakes” region. This vast area of northeastern South Dakota contains hundreds of glacial lakes, potholes, and wetlands left behind when the last ice sheet retreated 12,000 years ago. The Glacial Lakes region is the breeding ground for millions of ducks and geese — the “duck factory” of the Central Flyway. Mina Lake offers excellent walleye and yellow perch fishing.
Visitor Information
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Location | Edmunds County, SD |
| Entry Fee | SD Park Entrance License required |
| Lake | 275 acres! |
| Region | Glacial Lakes — “duck factory”! |
About Mina Lake
Mina Lake Recreation Area in Edmunds County provides lake recreation on a 680-acre dam-created lake in north-central South Dakota. The lake was created by a WPA dam project in the 1930s and has become a popular fishing destination in the James River basin.
Things to Do
Fishing for walleye, bass, and perch, camping, boating, swimming, and enjoying a well-established north-central South Dakota recreation area.
About Mina Lake
Mina Lake Recreation Area in Edmunds County provides recreation on a 700-acre lake on the James River in north-central South Dakota. The lake is stocked with walleye and supports excellent ice fishing in winter. Edmunds County sits in the glaciated Missouri Coteau — where the last Ice Age glaciers deposited rolling hills, wetlands, and pothole lakes across the northern Great Plains.
Things to Do
Fishing for walleye and perch (excellent ice fishing in winter), camping, boating, swimming, birdwatching, and enjoying recreation in the glaciated northern Great Plains.
Insider Tips
Northeast SD: Mina Lake provides recreation in northeast South Dakota — the Glacial Lakes and Prairies region. Pro tip: This region has more glacial lakes per square mile than almost anywhere in the lower 48 — the Laurentide Ice Sheet left thousands of depressions that filled with water. Farming country: The region’s rich glacial till soil makes it some of the most productive farmland in the world.
Best Time to Visit
Summer: Lake recreation. Fall: Harvest and hunting season. Spring: Migrating birds on glacial lakes. Winter: Ice fishing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are glacial lakes?
Glacial lakes formed when the Laurentide Ice Sheet retreated 10,000-15,000 years ago — blocks of buried ice melted into depressions (kettles), meltwater filled low areas, and moraines dammed valleys. Northeastern South Dakota has thousands of these lakes — ranging from small potholes to large recreational lakes. The glacial till (mixed sediment) left by the ice sheet also created some of the world’s most fertile agricultural soil.
🦆 Visit Mina Lake Recreation Area
Glacial Lakes region — the “duck factory” of the Central Flyway!
