Starting in
Lake County as East Vermillion River, the Vermillion itself flows almost due south through the
Dakota Heritage & Lakes Region. It passes under I-90 near Montrose to form Lake Vermillion, where you will find
Lake Vermillion Recreation Area. It then flows through
Centerville and joins the
Missouri River at
Vermillion.
The river itself was first noted on an 1801 map by a French trapper who called it Otter Stream. In Lakota language, Vermillion means "red paint." Some say the stream is named for the outcropping of red quartzite along its bank.
