Twin Lake

One evening in late June, I drove 90 minutes down to Twin Lake. Access is free in the county campground and you can drop your boats and park right at the water. There is a dock, boat launch with a gentle, sandy bottom, swim beach, picnic tables, and a rather rustic (ahem) pit toilet. There is also a kayakomat here.

The lake is small (you could easily do two laps in an hour) but offers two creeks to explore as well. I headed west towards the outflow and paddled up it.

The beaver dam just past the power lines was in place. You could shoot this (and eventually end up at the highway by Winfield) but getting back up looked dodgy so I turned around.

The lake was empty and there are no power boats allowed so it was a peaceful paddle. Of course, danger lurks in every lake... (geese).

I let the wind blow me east towards the inflowing creek. 

The water level was up a touch because of the beaver dam so I got further up this creek than I have in the past.

Eventually, though, I hit a roadblock and turned around. Not much for wildlife this trip--it was getting on in the evening and was windy and a storm was blowing in so maybe the birds had taken cover.

Overall, a nice paddle and a great lake for beginners.

Twin Lakes

In late August, I dragged the family 90 minutes SW of town to try Twin Lakes. I'd been down earlier in the year and enjoyed myself paddle. We went on a nice Sunday morning and got there at 10 am. There was lots of parking. When we got back from paddling at noon, the day use area was pretty full!

The kayak-o-mat was in use when we got back.

We went west towards the out flowing creek. The water was very clean and there was no wind. There are also no powered boats on the lake, which was nice.

There was still good access to the creek and we went under the power lines to the beaver dam.

It looks like the beavers are back trying to restore the dam.

 

We then paddled back upstream. Things were looking pretty autumnal, colour wise. 

There was a slight westerly breeze that blew us down the lake. We rafted up and had lunch while the wind did the paddling.

There wasn't much for birds. We saw one lone loon and a few ducks. You could hear crows in the trees.

The inflowing creek was very low so we didn't get very far up it.

We did some ducks, however!

Overall, a nice family paddle. This lake is maybe a bit smaller than what I'd prefer if I went by myself. I wouldn't mind trying the lake to the east, but that looks like a long carry!

Twin Lake

In June, I drove out towards Drayton Valley to try my luck at Twin Lake, just a little east of Winfield.  The County of Wetaskiwin runs a campground here. Day-use is free and the lake has no power boats. There was good cell coverage pretty much everywhere.

When you pull in, you can park right by the water (I was within 20 feet) and there is a sand/gravel launch, a dock, picnic tables, garbage cans, and pit toilets. I'm not sure what the deal is on potable water here. There is also a kayakomat rental unit.

The water was crystal clear and the lake has a very boreal vibe. Basically fir trees down to the waterline.

There is a better swimming beach to the east but access is steep.

The lake is only about 1km long so you can paddle the perimeter in both directions in about an hour. The more interesting parts are the creeks at each end. The creek at the east end is the inflow and is shallow but you can go a little ways. The beaver dam that is a couple of hundred feet upstream had been breached somehow so I bum scooted over the shallow part and then kept going. It got progessively shallower quite quickly so I gave up.

I did see two loons and I scared up a heron who was fishing when I came around the corner.

The west of the lake has the outflow and it is a bigger creek.

It winds some, the current is very gentle, and there is a narrow bit (stream bisected by an island--choose the wider channel)

I got down past the power lines and there was another beaver dam here.

It had also been breached, either by someone digging it out or maybe by the significant rainfall we'd had the week before?

I could definitely get the boat through the narrows but I wasn't sure I'd be able to get back. Since the land all around was a boggy nightmare and I am way to old to be hauling a boat through a swamp on foot, I decided to turn around. It looks like the creek crosses Highway 20 just south of Winfield.

Overall, a pretty nice paddle. It would be great for kids or first timers. It was a bit of a drive (90 minutes) but could be combined with a paddle on Battle Lake, Buck Lake or Pigeon Lake. You could also camp here, although the amenities are modest.