Since the first dam was built across Salem Creek in 1911 - just before the towns of Winston and Salem formally merged - Salem Lake has provided a natural haven to the southeast of downtown.

The third Salem Lake dam, built in 1931, is still in operation, holding back one billion gallons of water, or 30 percent of the city’s drinking water. The dam created a 365-acre lake. Surrounding the water sits another 1,400 acres of parkland, chiefly wooded.

While certainly used during the week, even on Thursdays (when the park rentals are closed), Salem Lake Park truly comes to life on weekends. Five hundred visitors may enjoy the park’s attractions on a “slow” weekend; good weather can bring out three thousand to four thousand people.

These statistics come easily for Brian Hutchins, supervisor of Salem Lake. He’s been with the park for twenty years and knows it backward and forward.

“The lake was adapted for fishing in 1948,” Hutchins says, “and the recreation department began to operate here in the 1960s. What I like about it is that it’s a very friendly place.” He recalls having to deal with exactly one fight over the past twenty years.

Naturally, a number of the park’s popular offerings involve water sports. From the Fishing Station in the main part of the park, visitors can purchase licenses for pier and boat fishing. Rent canoes or pedal boats for $4 an hour from April to October. Visitors can launch their own sailboats, kayaks, canoes, and power boats with up to 50 horsepower.

No pontoon or inflatable boats, rubber rafts, or jet skis are allowed on the lake. According to Hutchins, these restrictions measurably improve the fishing. Hybrid and largemouth bass, catfish, crappie, bream, carp, and white perch are among the fish found here. All fishing must be from the pier or boats. It is not allowed along the banks.

The park also features a picnic area, restrooms, bait and tackle, and refreshments. Daily fishing permits ($3.50 ages 16 and up, $2 ages 12-15, $1 for seniors, free under 11) and $40 annual permits can be bought on site, as well as docking, launching, and boat rental fees.

Beyond the main waterfront area, an almost seven-mile-long unpaved trail circles the lake. Cyclists, runners, hikers, and horse riders share the trail, which also connects to the paved Salem Creek Trail, a stretch of greenspace that extends westward to Marketplace Mall on Peters Creek Parkway.

Birdwatchers also frequent the trail and nearby woods, where they can see a range of birds from the brown-headed nuthatch and horned grebe to the great crested flycatcher and Eastern kingbird.

Whether they opt for a quiet stroll along the lake trail, some time on the water, or an afternoon spent in search of bass, city dwellers and suburbanites alike enjoy Salem Lake Park’s natural playground.

“It’s really a smorgasbord of everyone,” Hutchins says, “all seeming to get along just fine.”

Hit the trail, cast a line
Scenic views of sailboats on the lake and hillside foliage starting to change colors offer fine distractions for the hundreds of runners who take to the hard-packed dirt each September for the Twin City Track Club’s Salem Lake 30k and 10k races. The shorter, six-mile run circles the lake; the eighteen-miler takes runners around the lake, out and back on a few miles of greenway, then back around the lake in reverse.

The Twin City folks make the race festive with food and music at the finish, unique Hanes Beefy-T shirts that become collectibles, and ceramic awards to the top three finishers in each race and the first three finishers in each age group. Some four hundred runners completed the 30k last year along with almost three hundred and fifty running the 10k.

This year’s race will be held September 23. The 30k takes off at 8 a.m., the 10k at 8:30. Like your runs longer and colder? Come back to the lake January 7 for the track club’s Salem Lakeshore Frosty Fifty, a 50k (thirty-two miler).Learn more and register for any of the races at www.twincitytc.org

.If fishing’s more your speed, watch for team bass tournaments September 30 and October 28; the “Fish for a Turkey” (multi-species) gathering on November 18; and the “Last Chance Bass” December 3. Call the Fishing Station, 336-650-7677, for tournament information, start times, and registration.

For more information
Call 336-727-2063 or visit www.cityofws.org. Click on “Departments,” then “Recreation and Parks.” Salem Lake Park is listed on the left-hand side of the page. The park is open daily except Thursdays (bikers and hikers can use the upper lot off Salem Lake Road on Thursdays, as the trails are open). Dogs must be on leashes. Closing begins a half-hour before final closing (7 p.m. through October) so users can clear the park before gates are locked.

The main access to the park is at the dead end of Salem Lake Road, off Reynolds Park Road about a mile and a half south of the golf course. From U.S. 52 south, take the Stadium Drive exit, turn left to the light at Martin Luther King Boulevard. Turn right, then left onto Reynolds Park and left onto Salem Lake.

A boat launch access is off of Linville Road, just south of the Business I-40 Linville Road exit.