Ross Lake and Laurier Lake, Whitney Lakes Provincial Park

In late August, we visited Whitney Lakes Provincial Park. We had the chance to paddle Ross Lake and scout Laurier Lake.

Ross Lake

Ross Lake is one of the four lakes in the park and a lovely paddle.

There are a couple of places you can put in. We decided to use the boat launch on the western shore. There was a nice cement ramp and a dock, pit toilets, and parking nearby. There was also a loaner life jacket station here.

The water was super clean and try was a snap.

The water level is higher than it once was and there is a fringe of dead trees around the lake shore that makes getting out tricky. We went left (north) off the launch and paddled the perimeter of the lake.

This is pretty representative of the shoreline. It was crazy calm the morning we were there and there were a few other paddlers out but no motorized boats.

We went around the small island in the north end of the lake. I was able to render aid to another boat.

This part of the lake was a bit weedier than the southern basin and there were a lot of fish jumping.

The eastern side of the island has a narrower passage.

There are two beaches in the campground that you could launch from. The main beach is on the SE corner and includes a playground, toilets, and swimming area.

There is also a smaller beach on the southern shore, where we've gone swimming in the past.

There is a day use area on the SW corner but this is set about 5m above the lake and has no easy water access (???).

Overall, this was a spectacular paddle on a lovely lake. It took us about an hour to around the perimeter and, if you can only put in at one lake in this park, Ross is the lake to go to.

Laurier Lake

Just north of Ross lake is Laurier Lake. Laurier is the largest lake in the park. We took a drive to two launch points on the south shore to see what they were like with the thought of perhaps paddling to the north end and trying to portage into Borden Lake.

There is a boat launch at Bluebird Beach, but the water there was in the midst of a blue-green algae bloom.

We then went up to the day-use area jus to the west of it. Again, there is a boat launch.

And again with the algae. Maybe next time!

Google suggests it may also be possible to get into Borden Lake on the west end off Township Road 564, but we didn't have a chance to suss that out this trip.

Whitney Lake and Ross Lake

We took a trip out to Whitney Lakes Provincial Park this month. Whitney Lakes has four lakes in the Park (Laurier, Borden, Ross and Whitney) and is about three hours east of Edmonton. Basically east until just after Vermilion and then north for an hour. The roads were awesome with new pavement--an easy drive.

We had time to try two lakes and the online reviews suggested we look at Ross and Whitney Lakes. We started at Ross Lake (bottom right in map above). It has a provincial campground on the south side of the lake with very private camp sites and nice amenities, including large showers. On the west side of the campground, there is a boat launch with ample parking and an outhouse.

Since the lake was also rated as highly swimmable, we went looking for beaches and found two. The first (below) is north of the shower complex along a 300m trail. A bit of a haul for boats but a nice walk and a super secluded beach. We had a lovely swim here with a sandy bottom and shade (it was +30 by noon).

Around the east edge of the lake (in the loop that has campsites 78-102), is a second beach. This has good parking and is a short, 100 foot walk to the beach. There are toilets, play equipment, a swim area and a lovely beach.

We then went to Whitney Lake (bottom left in map above). The entrance is not all that well signed. The campground is not great--big open space with no shade and no privacy. The beach is about 75 feet from the parking lot and is lovely.

It is a big beach with lots of room. There is easy beach launching, a shallow grade, and a marked swimming area. Just to the NE there is a boat launch. There were more motor boats on this lake (bigger than Ross Lake).

The swimming was also nice (+35C by the time we got here). Although nice, I'd rate Ross Lake nicer. The campground was way better, the lake was quieter and more interesting from a birding and paddling perspectives. And the water seemed a bit cleaner to me (although both were lovely).

I'd go back if only to try Laurier Lake (couldn't figure access to Borden Lake from the maps). The distance from Edmonton suggests camping is likely necessary (nearest big centres are St. Paul or Lloydminister if you wanted to hotel it).