Elkwater Lake

In early July, we had the chance to paddle Elkwater Lake in the Cypress Hills Intraprovincial Park (just southeast of Medicine Hat). Elkwater is approximately the same elevation as Banff and gets some pretty varied weather. Our paddle started out rainy and foggy and then turned lovely. Overall, Elkwater is a morning or evening paddle because of the afternoon winds and boats.

There are multiple boat and beach launches from the south shore of the lake. We went off the main beach (just east of the marina). The carry from the parking lot was about 100 feet and there is also a place to rent kayaks, canoes, and paddle boards here. There are nice washrooms and changing rooms here as well as picnic tables and fire pits and, of course, a lovely beach with a roped swimming area.

The east end of the lake is swampy reeds so we went across to the north shore while we waited for the sun, trying to get into the northern reach. The shoreline was steep and grassy, with a sandy bottom pretty much everywhere. There were no boats out due to the weather.

We pushed through a shallow reed bed and into the northern part of the lake as the sun came out. there were lots of birds here as well as a muskrat but not much else of interest. There were no boats here, perhaps because of the shallow depth.

We worked out way counter clockwise around the lake as the sun came out. This deer paralleled us up on the bluffs. The shore line is a mix of sandy cliffs (with swallows) and grassy hills coming down to the shore (lots of yellow-headed blackbirds).

The western end of the lake is basically this.

The south shore is treed and much more alpine. This distribution of trees reflects the availability of water on north-facing slopes.

We saw a hawk come low overhead screaming and, right behind it, was a bald eagle, talons extended. They circled for awhile. We also saw a grebe fishing and feeding its young what looked like a small perch. By this time, the water skiers were out and we decided to call it a day and head back for lunch.

Overall, Elkwater is a pretty clean lake. The perimeter is like just over 10km and there is a fair bit to see. The downsides are the wind and the boat traffic, especially in the middle the day.

Elkwater Lake, Cypress Hills

Elkwater lake is located beside the town of Elkwater in the Cypress Hills, about an hour SE of Medicine Hat. I stayed overnight in Elkwater on the way back from a work trip a few weeks ago.



Elkwater is mostly a summer village with limited services (pub/bar, a few lodges, campgrounds) but is your best bet for accommodations in the Cypress Hills. I had very dramatic weather while I was there and it was (disappointingly) too cruddy to paddle.

The lake itself looks like it would be nice. It is about 3km east-west and has a northern leg that is maybe 2km long.

There are three easy access points. The first is off the parking lot near the community hall on 3rd Street (above). There is a dock that is silted up and offers a sandy bottom on the east side of the dock.

A bit further west is a public beach and marina. There is a boat launch as well as a nice beach launch. You can also rent boats here. Even further west (Fire Rock campground) there was another boat launch and beach area.

The south side of the lake has a nice walking path and groomed parkland. Despite the bad weather, things were definitely getting crowded with the trailer-and-boat crowd on Friday night. I suspect the lake would be pretty busy with boats on the weekend.

A pretty picture from the next morning (looking west from the causeway) gives a better impression of the lake in nice weather. I would definitely come back here and try again if I was down in the SE corner of the province again.