Waskesiu Lake, Prince Albert National Park

Waskesiu Lake is the most accessible lake in Prince Albert National Park. We put in five times here during our trip and in no way exhausted the potential options for entry.

Main Beach

The easiest access point is the main beach in the village on the southeast end of the lake. You can park and carry about 100m (or less) and launch off a beautiful sandy beach. The water is clean and the beach doesn't seem crowded (because it is almost a kilometre long) even when there are lots of people. You do have to wade out a long way to swim, though.

There are very nice washroom facilities and change rooms here as well as a playground and easy access to various restaurants right across the street.

Going left (south) off the beach takes you into Murphy's Bay, which is fairly sheltered and shallow. The shoreline looks like this for the first bit (steep, trees, rocky).

We spotted some eagles enjoying a meal.

The shore eventually flattens out some and gets sandy again.

Jenn got out her new dollarama garbage grabber and we we hauled two dozen golf balls and a bunch of beer cans out go the bay.

This was a nice paddle on a dreary day.

You can also go right (north) of the beach and head up towards the Waskesiu River and the marina.

This is a nice evening paddle if the weather cooperates. It is about an hour up the length of the beach and back.

There is also an opportunity for nice sunset shots.

Paignton Beach

You can also access the lake on the south shore at several spots on the Narrows Road. Paighton Beach is  lovely and large day-use area with washrooms, picnic shelters, fire rings, and picnic benches. You can carry for about 25m to launch off the beach. 

The beach is huge and forms a point that juts out into the lake. This gives you some wind protection (on one side or the other). We went left off of the beach (west) for about 2km.

Mostly it is just sandy beaches with a fir forest. There were a few reed beds and we saw some eagles.

This would be a great beach for kids because it is huge and there is likely to be enough wind most of the time to keep the horseflies at bay. 

Honestly, the beach was enormous and totally empty.

Trippes Beach

Trippes beach is also off the Narrows Road. It offers a smaller, more sheltered beach. We were the only ones here both times we visited. There are pit toilets, a fire pit, and good swimming.

If it is calm, this area is prone to having more bugs than the main beach or Paignton Beach. It also offers access to King Island, which is about one km off the beach.

King Island offers and interesting paddle around the edge. The best access is on the SW corner, where there is a sandy spit, a picnic table, and a fire pit. It is a day-use area with no overnight camping.

Getting very far off the sandy spit requires better shoes than we had (there are trails but they are not great) so we just poked around the edges.

There were lots of birds here, just hanging out, including a big group of pelicans.

Overall, Waskeisiu Lake offers a lot of options and some lovely paddling. It is a big lake (maybe 15km long) and it runs roughly east-west so is prone to some big waves if it is windy.