Trappers Lake, near Elk Island Park

I have a long list of lakes to visit around the province. In early August, I decided to check out Trappers Lake, which is located immediately west of Elk Island National Park. The lake is about 2km east-west and 1 km north-south, although low water can have a significant effect on the dimensions of the lake.

Access is north off of Highway 16 up Range Road 210 until it ends (green arrow below). The road that hooks to the right (red arrow) is not accessible, basically being an ATV trail within Elk Island Park, behind a 10-foot bison- and paddler-proof fence.

When you get to the end of the road, you can park by the bullet-riddled dead-end sign. Access to the lake is down a "path" that starts on the left side of the photo below. 

The path to the lake is about 100m long and is vague most of the way (more of an animal path). It roughly follows the green arc on the map below. I ended up bushwhacking a fair bit of the walk.

There is a bit of a downward slope, lots of fallen trees underfoot, and quite a bit of rose bush for the first 50m. I'd suggest good boots and long pants! Honestly, it would be a real chore to get a boat though here, even on my head.

Then you get out of the trees into a meadow. It is another 50 meters to the lake. Again, there is tricky footing with lots of thistle and shoulder-high nettle. Shorts were a poor choice on my part.

The shoreline is soft, shallow and muddy. Maybe you could bum-scoot your entry to deeper water. The trick would be getting back out without sinking in the goop. There was a rough quadded trail that looked to go around the south side of the lake, so you might be able to find a decent entry spot further east or west. 

At this point, I decided this was a "pass" for me and I hiked back to my truck. Finding where I'd come out of the wood was challenging. The direction of the sun and the national park boundary marker was helpful in this regard.

This was (hopefully) the only real bust trip for the season and I'm happy this wasn't too far to go.