Half Moon Lake, Thorhild County

After visiting Half Moon Lake SE of Sherwood Park, a friend pointed out that there was also a Half Moon Lake NE of town in Thorhild County. I took Highway 28 north of town to Bon Accord, turned up Lily Lake Road and followed it until it dead-ended at Township Road 590. Then maybe 4km on gravel to the Half Moon lake Campground. About an hour all told.

The campground has a day use area with a sandy boat launch on the north shore. The access fee is $20 per car to use the launch. There are washrooms and decent parking. The rest of the lakeshore is private property and I didn't see any other access points. I expect this lake would be hopping on the weekend.

The lake is only about 200m wide and the perimeter is four and half or five km long. It took me less than two hours to paddle at a relax pace. The lake runs east-west and there are no trees on the west end so the wind gets a good run. I'm not sure the lake is deep enough to worry much about big rollers. It was pretty windy when I was there (up to 30kmh) but the waves were no real problem.

The west end of the lake is a typical northern Alberta lake. Pine trees, boggy shore, beaver lodges, waterfowl, and some lilybeds. The water was super clear.

I paddled though the swampier area on the west end and then cruised the south shore back east.

The eastern half of the lake is much of a Parkland style, with aspens. Overall, the east end was prettier.

The wind really picked up on the way back but the wave action was pretty modest (below).

Overall, a nice paddle. A friend said she and her family picked up some itch there once so a rinse after getting out might be in order (I didn't see any facilities for that, so plan ahead with some water jugs). There was a touch of algae in the west end (typical swamp stuff, not a bloom). No idea what the water would be like in the summer--might be worth phoning ahead to the campground.