Cross Lake

In late May, we drove up past Westlock to Cross Lake Provincial Park (just 60km west of Athabasca). I've been meaning to paddle here for a couple of years but I always leave it too late in the season (algae-wise). The last bit of the drive in on gravel but the facilities are very nice.

There is a boat launch but we just launched from the day-use beach right beside it. It was a nice, clean, sandy launch. There were washrooms, change rooms, and picnic tables plus so-so cell service. The camp store apparently sells ice cream.

We went north (left) off the beach and padded around the first large bay. The picture above is pretty representative of the shoreline. Eventually, we arrived at George's Point (below). The point is a hike-in/paddle-in picnic site (looked like outhouses, garbage cans, benches, tables and a fire ring. Some of the older maps suggest this is also a tenting site, but I've read that is no longer the case. something to sort out a head of time if that is your plan.

Before we go to the point, about half way around the first bay, we turned up a creek and ran across a loon on a nest. The loon tried to lure us away. We took a couple of quick shots of the nest before following the loon back out to the lake.

Lots of other birds to watch along the way. The lake was teeming with fish, including perch in shallow.

After about an hour and 20 minutes of paddling along the north shore, we decided to turn back and cut across the lake. There were a fair number of fishing boats out (a dozen?) but the lake is huge so we hardly noticed them.

We had great weather the whole time. Warm, sunny, and no wind. I would imagine the lake would get pretty rough in a good wind.

The water quality was pretty good. There were places where there was some algae (not blue-green). The worst spot was out in the middle of the lake (shot below). The shores were fine. Experienced paddlers say go early in the season to avoid the algae.

Overall, this was a nice lake and I would likely go back and try to south shore. It is bit of a drive (90 minute or more). Nearby is Long Island Lake, which might make for a nice two-for-one trip.