Second Chain Lake (Morningside)

In late May, I drove SE of Ponoka to try out the Chain Lakes. I put in on the southern lake and didn't get to the northern one. The Chain Lakes by Ponoka shouldn't be confused with the Chain Lakes Provincial Park and reservoir between Pincher Creek and Long View.

The easiest access is east off Highway 2 at the Morningside underpass onto Secondary Highway 604. This turn into Township Road 420 at Morningside. Just keep going east. It eventually turns to gravel and, if you start throwing a bow wave, you went too far. Access is through a Habitat preserve on the north side of the road and down a steep gravel road that has been catted out of the hillside.

At the bottom, there a boat launch, a big parking space about 30 feet up the hill from the water, two portapotties, and some garbage cans. Everything was in good repair when I was there.

The lake is down in a deep valley and has a bit of an alpine feel to it. There was no cell coverage in the parking lot but you could get a signal on the dock and on the water. The water was clear and clean. There were a lot of aquatic bugs and whatnot in the lake so it would be a bit gross for swimming, I think.

The lake is about 2.5km long and maybe 100m across. I went north of the boat launch and this is basically what you get the whole way.

The shoreline is all private owned and there is some docks and such. The north end is a bit of a swamp. Google maps suggests you can paddle through this to the northern lake. I'm not so sure. It was very reedy and log choked here. I did see a young bald eagle cruising the waterfowl, looking for breakfast.

The east side is more deciduous and prairie-lake like. Maybe a fire went down the eastern side 30 years ago? Anyhow, it was pretty enough. Lots of moose and deer poop and prints but no animals. 

The south end of the lake ends in reeds. The water seems to flow through to Magee Lake to the south, but I don't think you could paddle through the fens.

The only weedy part was the SW corner of the lake and this was "charming weedy" rather than "gross weedy".

Overall, a very nice lake. It took me just under 2 hours to paddle the whole shoreline at a very stately pace. It was maybe 6km around (maybe a touch less). I saw two boats out drift casting and otherwise it was empty.