The lake once offered excellent bass, perch, and crappie fishing. A scheme to use the water for irrigation, promoted by former Governor M. E. Hay and others, resulted in the draining away of half the lake, until the granite rocks that lined the bottom were left high and dry and the cattails and tules at the north end of the lake had marched forward half a mile. Today, the level of the water is slowly rising.

Silver Lake is now a popular year-round site for fishing, boating and camping. The lake and its environs are managed by the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program, a Seattle-based state grant program that was developed to protect habitats within new state parks.