Castor Creek (Parr Reservoir) and Big Knife Provincial Park

In late June, I detoured on a trip to Calgary to the east of Red Deer and visited Castor Creek. The creek was dammed in the 1940s to create Parr Reservoir in what was once a coulee. The resulting "lake" is about 3.5km long and maybe 20m wide (this varies). Because it is down below the level of the surrounding land, there isn't much wind but there are a lot of interesting sandstone cliffs. 

Access is in the town of Castor (green arrow above). There is a parking lot and proper boat launch, with a concrete ramp and two docks. There are also picnic tables, what was once a small sandy beach, and a hellsketchy change room and toilet (maybe the worst I've been in a couple of years). The water was dark but smelled okay. You could definitely SUP but I would not want to swim here.

There was no one there the day I went (mid-day on a Tuesday in late June) but the north part of the lake is used for waterskiing. I went left (north) off the dock and paddled to the outflow and back in about 80 minutes (at a slow pace). The pictures below are basically representative. There are some steep hills with rosebushes, a few bullrushes along the shore, and then some cliff faces.

There are lots of swallows nesting on the sandstone and some of the cliffs show exposed coal seams.

The far northwest corner has the outflow which is just a giant hole the water flows into (blocked off by these posts). This was the only part of the creek with any noticeable current.

As I came around the last corner, I saw a lifejacket floating in the water (fortunately empty).

The paddle back to the boat ramp was fairly uneventful. There were lots of cormorants, ducks, red-winded black birds, and I heard (but could not spot) an owl.

Back at the launch, I paddled south under the bridge. Here, the creek narrows some and I would say this was the more interesting paddle, with more varied cliffs and more birds. I ran out of road at the next bridge because beavers had dammed the creek. It was only a one-foot height difference but that was enough to turn me back. You could, certainly, get past this if you were keen.

More cliffs and some of the swallow nests built into them. These nests were everywhere.

The whole paddle lasted about two hours and was definitely interesting. Whomever did the facebook advertising that got pushed into my feed certainly did good job showing off the best parts of this paddle! I'm not sure it was worth a 2.5 hour drive, but I also got to stop at Big Knife Provincial Park (about 45km NW of Castor) and you could easily make this a two-fer or an overnighter, if you camp.

Big Knife Provincial Park

Big Knife PP is located 3km west of Highway 855, between Heisler and Halkirk on the south bank of the Battle River. There is a campground here along with a day-use area and boat launch.

The launch has a cement ramp and you can drop your boat right beside the water. Parking and washrooms are a little ways off.

The Battle River is pretty slow and meandering so there is lots of opportunity to paddle here and bird watch. The water wasn't too gross although there was a bit of goop right at the launch.

I shot the two photos below from a small hill about halfway between the highway and the park to give you a sense of the topography. Basically a winding river with lots of oxbows.

I think this would be an okay place to paddle, but I didn't have time to put in and check it out.

Lacombe Lake

In late April, I stopped at Lacombe Lake on the way back from Calgary. I use the public boat launch off Township Road 402 in the NE corner of the lake.

The launch was lovely (and empty) with a shallow gravel entry and pretty clean water. There are no bathroom facilities here (I would guess the closest would be in Lacombe or Blackfalds. It was a windy day (from the south) so I padded down the east side of the lake and into the small beaver pond.

Lots of birds here, including loons. No beavers on this trip but I did see a muskrat.

The TransCanada Trail runs down the east side of the lake.

I went back out into the main lake and worked my way to the south end of the lake.

The picture below gives you a pretty good sense of the overall experience. The shore is reeds that give way to aspen and fir forest. There are hills on the east side and a farm on the west side.

The wind really came up for the trip back. I usually paddle about 4 km an hour (very average). The trip back down the lake saw me do as much as 12.6 kph (it was really blowing--fortunately the lake is shallow, so the waves were not too bad).

The lake is probably about 8 or 9km around so it's a two-hour paddle if you do the whole thing. If you wanted a shorter paddle, down the east side and into the small bay is interesting. The southern end is also okay. The north end of the lake is the least interesting and is the part to skip.

First Chain Lake (Ponoka)

In late August, we found ourselves in Red Deer. After a night in a motel on the dodgy side of Gasoline Alley (every hotel in town was, somehow, full???), we headed for home and stopped at the First Chain Lake, just east of Ponoka on our way. Access is on the east side of the lake, coming down Range Road 250 from the north, take the right fork down to the water.

The launch is sand, with space to park. There are no facilities here. I don't normally flag road conditions (since they change) but, like the Second Chain Lake, this entry might not be for everyone. Below you can see the launch from the water and, on the right, the road down to the launch.

It is fairly steep and the sandy soil can erode. I didn't have any trouble getting down (or back up) in our Escape (I just went slowly). If it was super wet, the tire tracks suggest some floorin' it might be required.

The lake runs north-south. It is about 2.5 or 3km long and maybe 100m wide. The shore is reeds giving way to steep wooded slopes.

Overall, the lake has a pretty alpine feel to it and offers good wind protection from the east or west. Google maps suggested the lake might be pinched by a swamp about half way up but that turned out to be a loose set of lily pads that were easy to navigate.

We did the whole lake in about an hour without really breaking a sweat. There was no one on the lake at 9 am on a Saturday.

Overall, this a nice prairie lake. The water was very murky (like slightly diluted motor oil) and there were lots of bugs in the water, so might not be the best for paddle boarding.

Buffalo Lake, The Narrows and Rochon Sands

On Canada Day, we paddled Buffalo Lake again. Last year, we put it in the NE corner at Buffalo Lake Provincial Recreation Area (also called Boss Hill). This year, we put in in the SW corner at the Narrows Provincial Recreation Area. The Narrows is a campground abutting (from what I can tell) Parlby Creek, which connect the main lake to the east with a small basin to the west.

The creek is about 50 feet wide and about 2km end-to-end (the reed beds make it hard to know when you are out in the lakes proper).

When you enter the campground, you just follow the road and there are six or so entry points like this one. This was the first we came to and had a picnic table and some sketchy pit toilets. Parking is right across the road from the entry and it is a gentle slope into the water. 

We paddled east out into the lake. I'd say that the water levels are down some, based on where the reeds are. It was overcast and still when we started.

As were got out onto the lake it started to clear and the wind picked up. We took a tour of the western part of the lake and then ground our way back to the creek against the wind. Lots of bird life, including pelicans.

 

Back in the creek, we were bushed but pushed towards the western end to see the other lake. 

Lots of nice reflections and birds but kind of a meh paddle. The water was murky and it was also a bit disinteresting 8km paddle. We then decided to drive to Rochon Sands to see what that was like. Cute summer village and a larger provincial campground. There was a good beach area with toilets, picnic tables, a playground and about a 300-foot carry from the car.

The water here (like at Boss Hill) is very shallow (people were hip deep more than a hundred feet from shore) and the edge of the water was a touch green (you could step over that). It was windy as hell here!

There is also a boat launch accessible from the campground where you can drop right beside the water and park in behind.

Overall, nearby Haunted Lakes is probably nicer (albeit smaller). If I was in the area again, I'd try Dried Meat Lake or go west an hour or so to Sylvan Lake. 

Lacombe Lake

In early June, I popped in to Lacombe Lake for  quick paddle on the way home from Calgary. Access was off Highway 2A to Township Road 402, which take you right to the boat launch in the NE corner.

The boat launch was nice sand and gravel with a gentle slope. The parking area was full (room for about six vehicles) and some folks were parking back up the hill by the Canada Post Box. A good mix of families, fishermen, and couples kayaking and paddle boarding. 

My wife picked up a leech at the launch. After dealing with that, we paddled down the east side of the lake. The shoreline is reedy and then gives way to aspen and spruce.

Near the bottom of the lake, we turned east into a little basin. There were a lot of birds in here (heron, grebes, loons, ducks, red-winged and yellow-headed blackbirds) as well as muskrats and beaver.

The Transcanada Trail parallels Range Road 271B on the east side of the lake and it looks like you could slip a boat in here as well. There was one channel that led to a clear path down from the trail (including a sign, probably prohibiting launching from there).

We ended up back out on the main lake and paddle north as the wind and cloud picked up. There were some pelicans in the south end of the lake and lots of grebes trying to lead us away from their floating nests.

Overall, a pretty nice paddle. It might be easily combined with Barnett lake or Elizabeth Lake in Lacombe for a longer day on the water.