Barnett Lake

A lake I have always looked at while driving back and forth to Calgary is Barnett Lake at Lacombe. I'm usually hot and cranky by the time we pass Burman University (which sits on the bluffs overlooking the lake) but don't have time to stop and paddle. This summer I built in an extra couple of hours so I could.

Access is at the green arrow on the map above. You have to go into Lacombe and work your way up 50th Street until it forks and then take the left fork (Range Road 270A). Parking is DIY.

There is a small gravel beach that you can get in from. The water is iced tea coloured but no algae or smell. Probably not a swimming lake, through.

Highway 2 runs along the western edge and you can see cars at the north edge (and hear them).

The eastern shore is forested and the water level came up at some point and killed a bunch of trees. There is also (on the eastern side) a weird set of metal posts (not pictured) that suggest either a fence or maybe a submerge guardrail and road?

The lake was pretty calm the day I was thee and I was the only paddler.

I performed a couple of search and rescues for various bugs. There were a crazy number of damsel flies on the south shore (enough it was hard to keep them out of my face while I paddled).

Burman University (which was a bible college by various names previously) sits on the north bluffs.

There were a fair number of birds on the lake (pelican, cormorants, grebes, coots, and loons. I accidentally chased a bunch of baby coots.

No while life. It looks like you could walk around the lake if you worked at it (there are paths on the eastern shore and you could DIY on on the west.

It was about a 45-minute paddle around the edge. Overall, a pretty enough lake. Not really worth making a special trip for but, you were there, you could drop in. Just to the east (more inside the town limits) is Empress Lake. I didn't scope out a launch site here. Maybe next time.