Some lakes are difficult to construct, while some are relatively easy. Sylvan belongs in the latter category. The two imaginative gentlemen merely bought a small tract of land between two great granite shields and built a dam seventy-five feet high between the boulders. The waters of Sunday Creek, which flowed to their dam, together with local springs, at last contrived to fill the area back of the dam. Today this loveliest of lakes basks peacefully high above the world at an elevation of 6,250 feet, actually on top of a ridge, at the north terminal of the Needles Highway. It is easy for any lover of water scenes to become enthusiastic as he describes the colorations of his favorite lake, so I shall merely state that Sylvan never looks the same in two consecutive moments. Not having the symmetry of natural lakes or the tremendous depths of glacial pools, this body of water plays the role of mirror to the fabulous rock shapes which surround it; and indeed it is a source of never-ending delight to watch the cloud and sun patterns as they wrestle with the shadows of the rocks on its surface. For many years Sylvan Lake and its environs were operated privately. A hotel catered to the tourists who bounced over the privately built road in buggies and horse-drawn busses. In 1919 the property was purchased by the state of South Dakota, and since that time it has been operated as a public facility. When the original hotel burned, in the thirties, the state built with funds procured from the federal government a comfortable and modern hostelry, the most amazing feature of which is the expansive dining room with picture windows looking out over the lake to Harney Peak. The hotel is small, as resort hotels go, containing only fifty rooms, and the tourist would do well to arrange for accommodations in advance of his visit. There are, however, a number of cabins operated in conjunction with the main building, and except at the height of the season rooms can probably be found in the annexes. Along the lake shore an excellent restaurant, independent of the hotel, serves the needs of the traveler who has only a few hours to spend at this stop. _Mount Rushmore_ From Sylvan Lake around back of the north side of Harney Peak it is a drive of but a few miles to the second man-made wonder of the Hills—the Mount Rushmore Memorial.