Saturday, May 20, 2017

Lewisville Lake and Lake Dallas

The place we stayed for the last two weeks of April in the DFW area (and where we will return on Monday for a couple of nights) was at Willow Grove Park in Lake Dallas. There was an information board there with some interesting information about Lewisville Lake and the town of Lake Dallas.
History of Lewisville Lake
Lake Lewisville's origin dates back to 1928 when construction began on an 11,000-foot-long dam near Garza, which impounded the Elm Fork of the Trinity River. Known as Lake Dallas, its purpose was to provide flood control and water supply for Denton, Dallas and other cities, as well as soil conservation and recreational opportunities. In 1954 the 33,000-food-long Lewisville Dam was completed downstream and the Lake Dallas Dam was breached, resulting in a much larger reservoir. The larger lake initially named the Garza-Litle Elm Reservoir and finally Lewisville Lake. The Lake covers nearly one-fifth of the land area of Denton County. It has a maximum depth of 67 feet and has a shoreline of 183 miles. Lake levels fluctuate 8 to 10 feet annually. The U.S. Army Corps of Enginners oversees lake operation.
This area of the lake lies in the Eastern Cross Timbers vegetational area. The post oak and black jack oak trees in the park's higher elevations are indicators of the sandy, neutral soils that characterize the Cross Timbers. Other trees in the area include hackberry, cottonwood, cedar elm and American elm.
This observation blind allows visitors a quiet place to observe wildlife activity on and around the lake. The Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area in Lewisville (near the dam) offers additional opportunity for nature study.
Note: I don't know what "observation blind" it was talking about. The sign was just there at the entrance to the campground.


A map that shows the relative boundaries and sizes of the original reservoir ("Lake Dallas") and Lewisville Lake.



Willow Grove Park (the campground) is within the town of Lake Dallas.
I had noticed that Dwayne sometimes called "Lake Lewisville" by the name "Lake Dallas" - I guess folks who have lived here for a while, and particularly who had family members in the Dallas area who had lived here earlier in the 1900s, would know the lake as "Lake Dallas".

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