Franchere Bay, Moose Lake (Bonnyville)

In late July, we spent some time in Bonnyville and paddled Moose Lake. The weather was uncooperative (wind, rain, smoke) so we decided to put in at Franchere Bay Provincial Recreation Area on the west end of the lake.

There is a boat launch here but we decide the beach looked just as easy. We parked about 30 meters from the water's edge and carried down a gentle grass and then sand slope. There is was a one-foot drop (retaining wall) down to the beach.

There were pit toilets, picnic tables and the usual stuff in this campground. The lake has a sandy bottom and looked quite swimmable.

We went left off the beach (north) and under the bridge into the channel (Thinlake River) that connects to Thin Lake. There were a fair number of birds here, even during the slow time of the summer and we went about 3km upstream before we started to bottom out a bit and turned back.

The shore was basically bullrushes giving way to bog or boggy forest.

We came back out into Moose Lake and then Jenn got her kayak sail deployed and spent some time enjoying the wind.

We drove around a bit to look at other launch sites, thinking we'll be back at some point. On the southwestern shore is the Pelican Point municipal campground. This has a boat launch and beach (meh) and gives easy access to the southern basin (which as lots of islands). We may well try here next time.

On the northern shore, we came south off of Highway 600 down Lakeview Drive (Range Road 72A) to this sandy launch. This launch gives good access to the northwestern basin as well as river (that doesn't seem named on google maps).

A little further east on 660 is access to Moose Lake Provincial Park (down Range Road 70). The park is sprawling and the launch is pretty decent. It gives good access to the eastern end of the lake.

There seem to be lots of access points to this pretty big lake. I wish the weather had been a bit better!

Floatingstone Lake

In late July, we took a trip to Bonnyville to try some new lakes. High on my list was Floatingstone Lake, about half way between Smokey Lake and Bonnyville. The lake has a pretty long shoreline (we cut off some of the bays and still paddled almost 3 hours (~12km).

The easiest access is on the south shore through the municipal campground. There is a day-use area with a cement boat launch, dock, and sandy beach. There was no charge to use this access and we could drop right beside the water. There were also pit toilets, a picnic shelter, playground, and swimming area. The campground store also sold drinks and ice cream.

We went off the beach and turned right (east) towards the islands.

The undeveloped shoreline is basically reeds then aspen forest. There are some areas where the shore is rocky and you could get out more easily.

We had great weather and it was calm and quiet. As the day went on, a bit of wind picked up and we also had boats pulling tubes.

The islands were super cool and would be a fun stop to explore with kids. We just kept paddling since the weather was so nice.

Over in the eastern end of the lake we paddled over this weird rock. 

I will be a bear of a job to get that out of the lake. We also saw some deer and lots of cormorants and a crazy number of loons.

The western shore is more developed with cabins and also a ranch.

Overall, a lovely paddle that I'd happily do again. I'm glad we went back. Our first attempt (two days earlier) was scuppered by stormy weather!

Since it was too lousy to paddle (wind gave way to rain), we spent some time checking out Upper Mann Lake. The easiest launch looked to be on the west end, off Dickson Road. The lake has receded since this cement launch was constructed. The shot below shows the end of the launch (I'm standing about half way to the present shore).

You could still get a boat in here but the mud flats looked challenging and I was not up to bumscooting 50 feet to get water under my keel.

There might be better access somewhere else but I didn't find it!

Devil's Lake

In mid-July, we tried to beat the heat with an early morning paddle at Devil's Lake (also called Matchayaw Lake). The water was looking good despite the heat wave and the launch with pit toilets and garbage cans) was quiet and in good shape.

There was  bit of high altitude smoke that gave the light a weird cast.

The lake was glassy calm for our whole paddle.

There were lots of pelicans on the lake plus the usual waterfowl.

I was keen to try to get up the inflow of the Sturgeon but the weeds, water levels, and some debris meant that was a bust.

I fidget pretty close to some pelicans, though.

We decided to try the Sturgeon River outflow, despite the weeds in the NW end of the lake.

We made it about a kilometre past the bridge before paddling in heavy weeds became tedious and we turned around.

I did get into Kilimi creek but that dead-ended in a big beaver dam so we decided to just finish the circuit of the southern shore and head back. There were the first signs of an algae bloom along the western shore of the lake (particles in the water).

The other boat launch (in Bilby) looked servicable.

A pretty nice paddle. It was +26 when we got off at 10:30. What a heat wave!

Nakamun Lake

In mid-July, I drove up to Nakamun Lake, hoping the water was still good. The last time I was here (2020?), there was an algae bloom underway. Happy, the water looked okay. The easiest access is on the south shore from the park in the middle of the Summer Village of Nakamun Park.

There is good parking here and benches to sit on but no washrooms. You can drive your boat to the end of the spit where the launch is. There wasn't really a viable beach launch here.

The launch has a metal grate for a deck. I've never seen one like this before. The grate in the water was very slippy. Getting in was okay. I used one of the guide rails on the side for balance getting out. The south shore is built up and basically is this, with a lot of weeds close to shore.

I went west off the launch. In the west end, there is a treed island with lots of birds.

You can skirt around the western side of the island, but the channel is shallow, narrow, and weedy.

The western and north shores mostly look like this: weed bed, thin set of bullrushes, then a steep bank up into an aspen forest.

On the north shore of Camp Nakamun.

In the eastern end, there is a cute little island with a beaver lodge and lots of nettle. Then a swampier portion leading to a creek.

The wind came up while I was in the eastern end and I had a long grind back to the dock. The other place you could get you boat in on the south side is at the end of Range Road 23. Parking is on the side of the road. It is a short carry but about a two-foot drop into a rocky bottom. 

The permitter of Nakamum is about 10km and took me about 2 hours. It was a nice enough lake but maybe a bit boring. There is some gravel involved in getting there (if that matters to you). I think Devil's Lake is actually a more interesting paddle and about 20 minutes closer to town.