Half-Moon Lake, Sherwood Park

In June, I drove out to Half-Moon Lake just SE of Sherwood Park for a paddle. There are two access points. I came south off Wye Road (turn at the Esso) onto Range Road 220, then south until the road turned east to parallel the northern edge of the lake. The public access is across from the second Canada Post superbox.

There is parking at the top and then you can carry down You could also drive down but the road is steep and you'd be reversing back up. You are only seeking about half the vertical drop in the picture above. The put-in is nice gravel.

The other option is on the south side of the lake at the resort (see below). There is a fee but a proper boat launch, beach, and such.

I had a beautiful sunny day and the reflections were amazing. The lake is quiet during the week but busier on the weekends and is pretty narrow.

A full circuit took me about an hour paddling very slowly as I watched the birds and enjoyed the sun.

I startled a red-necked grebe off a next in the reeds in the western end of the lake (you can see eggs in the middle of the image below). Lots of birds, although no pelicans this year.

Overall, a nice easy paddle in clean water.