Long Island Lake

In early May, we trucked about 90 minutes north past Westlock to paddle Long Island Lake. The best access is through the municipal campground on the NE corner. The price for a day pass was $10 plus GST. The water the super clean. Cell coverage was not great.

The boat launch is nice and sandy. You can drop your boats right beside the water and then drive 75 feet back up to park. There are pit toilets by the parking. The dock that is normally here was installed while we were on the water.

It was a bit windy we we took a quick spin around the island, which blocked most of the chop. 

Then we headed south down the long panhandle of the lake towards Larkspur. The perimeter of the lake (at guess) is about 12 km. We saw two bald eagles fishing together, some herons, and a bunch of loons.

At the south end of the lake is Larkspur (maybe a summer village, mostly just cabins). I wanted to look to see if it was possible to access the lake here off Larkspur Drive. It kinda-sorta looked like that from the satellite photos.

From a distance, I thought maybe (this shot faces due south with Larkspur Drive just on the other side of the gate).

As you get closer, the answer is not really. There is about 20 feet of deep bog that includes a lot of logs and reed clumps between the water and solid ground. Getting out would be a major production and get back would be worse. I suppose entry is theoretically possible. The rest of the southern shore was no better.

We went back up the lake, periodically fighting the wind.

The leaves were just coming out. This is a lovely paddle in the summer. Most of the southern panhandle has no cabins.

It does however have a lot of boat slips. My understanding if that weekends and nice days in the summer see a lot of traffic. There were no boats when we were there and, even in the wind (note the flag standings straight out in the background below), there wasn't much chop (but there was a lot of wind!).

The municipal campground also offers camping and a very nice beach. The website suggests that day-use passes often sell out on the weekend, so that is something to consider if you are going up in the summer. If Long Island Lake is full, you can also go another 20ish km north and try Cross Lake Provincial Park.

Overall, a nice paddle and probably a fun day for younger families, if you planned to use the beach as well.