Enjoying Lake Life in South Dakota

A couple finds the perfect cabin after a lifetime of fun on the water.

Story & photos by Carol Loeschke As a child, I grew up near Lake Kampeska at Watertown, S.D. My husband of 36 years, Ron, grew up near Big Stone Lake, located by Milbank, S.D. My mom always loved the water, so she and my dad rented a cabin every summer for my siblings and our families in the 1990s at Kampeska Lodge. Later in life, our kids attended church camps and YMCA camps near South Dakota lakes. We would pitch a tent at State Parks and use our family boat for fishing, water skiing and knee boarding. Now, our kids are adults, and we even have grandchildren! As we became empty nesters, we continued camping with our yellow Labrador, and it was always wonderful, but we knew that owning a lake cabin or cottage would be easier. Note: Sleeping on the ground is okay, but not as convenient as we get older. During the summer of 2014, we started looking for lake property in northeastern South Dakota. It was fun looking at different properties, but I never dreamed we would actually ever be able to purchase our own cabin. However, around Labor Day of 2014, we found that perfect cabin. It was built in 1989 by a couple starting their retirement. It’s 60 minutes from our home and 45 minutes from our grandbabies. It’s a year-round cabin, which is a bonus because we also enjoy ice-fishing, cross-country skiing and other winter sports. We closed on our dream cabin, located on Enemy Swim Lake near Waubay, S.D., in December of 2014. The two-bedroom, one-bathroom cabin is located within walking distance of a church camp and the Waubay National Wildlife Refuge. Our 864-square-foot cabin has a small garage, laundry area and a beautiful three-season porch. We started our renovation work immediately, sleeping on cots every weekend. We painted every room and replaced all the flooring. We worked every weekend with a goal of making it our own special spot, but it never seemed like work! There is a boat house, which is quite retro. My husband built a new door on the front, and the space is great to store our dock and his ice-fishing shack in the winter months. We’ve celebrated two Memorial Day weekends at our cabin. This year, we were able to bring my husband’s 92-year-old mother and her brother to the lake for a fish fry. Enemy Swim Lake is a lake in the glacial lake region of northeastern South Dakota located on the Lake Traverse Indian Reservation in Day County. What was the draw for us at this specific lake? It is clear and clean! The lake is 2,150 acres in size and is approximately 24-feet deep at its deepest point. Anglers catch a variety of fish in this lake and several surrounding lakes in the glacial region. That’s all good, because I’m married to an outdoorsman! We’re loving lake life in South Dakota!