Half Moon Lake, Sherwood Park

I tried out Half Moon Lake a week or so back. This Half Moon Lake is located south and east of Sherwood Park. You can come at it a couple of different ways. If you come in off Township Road 520 on the south side, you can access the lake through the Half Moon Lake Resort. This includes a beach (see below) and boat launch. I understand there is a small day-use fee to launch from here ($10/person).

The other options require you go east from Sherwood Park on Wye Road then turn south down Range Road 220 and come at the lake from the North. There are two public access points that I have flagged in the screen cap below. Both are a little tricky to find. As you drive eastward along the north shore of the lake, there are three Canada Post super boxes. The launches are across from the second and third boxes.

The right-most launch is a grassy path down to the water. There is a bit of slope.

The water entrance is the pits. Big step down to the bottom where the lake drops off rapidly.

I think the better option is the left-hand access. This is a gravel road. In theory, you could drive down, unload and drive up. But there is no room at the bottom to turn around and the road is pretty pitted and quite steep. I just parked at the top and carried (maybe 200 feet?).

Access to the water is good with a little shelf of gravel on the bottom to stand on and launch from.

The lake is about 4km around the perimeter but the western section is marsh where pelicans and other birds nest (so best avoided until late summer).

There were a lot of lovely birds (including pelicans--I saw one group of at last 30 in the distance) flying and floating. The trees are mostly aspens and have a lovely rustling sound in the wind. I bet this would be spectacular in the autumn when the leaves turn.

A beaver lodge, a fair number of cabins, and lots of power boats on the shore. So probably a busy lake on a summer weekend. I wonder about algae in summer.

Overall, a really nice beginner paddle (maybe an hour around the edge). Not much shelter in a blow, though. Would totally go back.