Northeast River Valley Park, Edmonton

In late October, I drove out to the new Northeast River Valley Park in Edmonton. The park was formerly a children's camp and still in the process of being developed, but opened in late September. It offers the largest paddling pond in the city.

Signage is still in development so I put a map above. The best parking is by the event centre (purple). You then hike about 600 feet to the launch (green). It is a good hike on a gravelled roadway/path.

The launch looks set to include a dock (it was not present the day I was there). The beach launch is a bit DIY but wasn't too bad.

The pathway down is steep and the last drop to the lake is also steep (if that matters to you). I managed to get in and out dry footed. 

The lake is basically a big north-south pond (maybe twice the size of Hawrelak pond), divided by an island into two basins. There is also a channel on the NE corner that loops around the island that the launch is on.

There is an active beaver lodge in the NE corner of the channel and I saw a couple of muskrats and some ducks.

Otherwise, it was pretty quiet this late in the season. The water is about 15 to 20 feet below the surrounding land so there is some protection from the wind. This is important because there are (so far) few trees in the park and it is a bit windswept--very much like a southern Alberta prairie.

It was a beautiful day when I was out. Sunny and +22C was amazing for late October. It took me about 30 minutes to paddle the whole perimeter at a moderate pace. A second lap made a nice hour of paddling.

The event centre is very pretty and sits atop the hill. Two covered bridged connect an island with a playground on it to the shore. You can easily get under all of the bridges.

Different bridges mark the entrances to the channel. Again, there is lots of headroom.

Overall, this was a nice paddle and would be a good place for a shakedown cruise in the spring or for first timers. It is a long way northeast (I could have gotten to several bigger lakes west of town in the same travel time) so I don't think I'll be a regular.

Half Moon Lake, Sherwood Park

On Thanksgiving, I hauled my boat out to Half Moon Lake just SE of Sherwood Park. The public access is east on Wye Road to Range Road 220 (the Esso corner), then south on RR220 until you hit the lake. The public launch is across from the second Canada Post box and there is gravel parking for three vehicles. Then you have to carry about 300 feet down a steep gravel path to the water.

The launch itself is nice gravel.

This shot maybe gives you a better sense of the launch.

The lake was still and empty and the trees were very colourful.

The lake was also colourful; this was about the worst of it.

The far west end was too choked with weeds to bother with and there were only a few geese and ducks around.

There is a beach launch on the souther end of the lake but usually you have to pay for access from the resort.

At this point in the years there is real "empty lake, empty beach" vibe going on.

Great reflections though and a pretty nice paddle.

Overall, this is more of an early season paddle when the water is better and the lake is much quieter on a  weekday than on a weekend in the summer.

Lac La Nonne

Last Thanksgiving, I dragged the family up to Lac La Nonne of a paddle. The weather was amazing and we basically had the lake to ourselves. The water was pretty green.

We put in at the north end of the lake at the nature reserve (signage of the highway was terrible). I'm not sure that this is a public boat launch. It is at the end of a public road, but there was a sign (I noticed on the way out) that said it was a members only space. That may refer to the dock that is usually here. Anyhow, there was a boat launch and a small beach and we went off the beach and headed east.

It was 24 degrees and the water was like glass.

Well, glass with a bit of tarnish, anyhow.

We paddled the northern quarter of the lake and had lunch on the water. There is public boat launch on the west side of the lake at the Willowbend Resort.

I suspected the would be the last family paddle of the year and it was great one.

Overall, I definitely go back and try a different section of the lake. Probably earlier in the year would be better.

East Pit Lake

In early October, I ventured out to East Pit Lake, just north of Wabamun. The lake was lovely; the approach is the challenge here. The carry is about 1500 feet but with a 150-foot elevation change. I've always gone with others so we could cooperate for the carry; today was my first time on my own.

Getting down to the lake wasn't too bad. I just put the boat on my head and walked down. It was a bit stormy when I got there, with some chop and then a small rainstorm that I rode out under a willow bush.

The beavers have been busy with a much bigger lodge than last year!

As the sun came out, the paddle got nicer. There were a couple of guys fishing and one lone muskrat puttering along the shoreline.

The fall colours were great though. 

After a couple of laps, it was time to hump the boat back out. I was glad I brought my regular shoes with me instead of changing at the truck and making do with sandals.

Looking up the hill.

Knees making complaining sounds.

It wasn't terrible but the hill was long.

I managed to get back to the truck without setting the boat down so I'm calling that a win.

Overall, a pretty good paddle and nice to know I can do it solo, since my previous paddling partners are both hard-no's on this one!

Lake Annette

Rounding out our September trip to Jasper was a lovely evening paddle on Lake Annette. This is a short paddle (we did it twice in an hour without really trying hard at all) and can be easily combined with a paddle on nearby Lake Edith. There are two parking lots, with the left hand lot (at the intersection) being much closer to the water.

There is a nice beach and a lovely beach launch, picnic tables, pit toilets, and a playground here.

There is a paved walking trail all around the lake as well as quicksand!

The lake has a lovely blue-green colour, nice trees, and we swim in it in the summer.

We were the only ones on the lake and it was dead calm so the reflections were amazing. Below I have a bunch of shots, some of which I have flipped 180 degrees (so the sky is the water) to show off how amazing the reflections were. 

As usual, this was a lovely paddle and is great family lake. You can also wade way out into the lake from the west side of the lake.