Waskesiu Lake, Prince Albert National Park

Waskesiu Lake is the most accessible lake in Prince Albert National Park. We put in five times here during our trip and in no way exhausted the potential options for entry.

Main Beach

The easiest access point is the main beach in the village on the southeast end of the lake. You can park and carry about 100m (or less) and launch off a beautiful sandy beach. The water is clean and the beach doesn't seem crowded (because it is almost a kilometre long) even when there are lots of people. You do have to wade out a long way to swim, though.

There are very nice washroom facilities and change rooms here as well as a playground and easy access to various restaurants right across the street.

Going left (south) off the beach takes you into Murphy's Bay, which is fairly sheltered and shallow. The shoreline looks like this for the first bit (steep, trees, rocky).

We spotted some eagles enjoying a meal.

The shore eventually flattens out some and gets sandy again.

Jenn got out her new dollarama garbage grabber and we we hauled two dozen golf balls and a bunch of beer cans out go the bay.

This was a nice paddle on a dreary day.

You can also go right (north) of the beach and head up towards the Waskesiu River and the marina.

This is a nice evening paddle if the weather cooperates. It is about an hour up the length of the beach and back.

There is also an opportunity for nice sunset shots.

Paignton Beach

You can also access the lake on the south shore at several spots on the Narrows Road. Paighton Beach is  lovely and large day-use area with washrooms, picnic shelters, fire rings, and picnic benches. You can carry for about 25m to launch off the beach. 

The beach is huge and forms a point that juts out into the lake. This gives you some wind protection (on one side or the other). We went left off of the beach (west) for about 2km.

Mostly it is just sandy beaches with a fir forest. There were a few reed beds and we saw some eagles.

This would be a great beach for kids because it is huge and there is likely to be enough wind most of the time to keep the horseflies at bay. 

Honestly, the beach was enormous and totally empty.

Trippes Beach

Trippes beach is also off the Narrows Road. It offers a smaller, more sheltered beach. We were the only ones here both times we visited. There are pit toilets, a fire pit, and good swimming.

If it is calm, this area is prone to having more bugs than the main beach or Paignton Beach. It also offers access to King Island, which is about one km off the beach.

King Island offers and interesting paddle around the edge. The best access is on the SW corner, where there is a sandy spit, a picnic table, and a fire pit. It is a day-use area with no overnight camping.

Getting very far off the sandy spit requires better shoes than we had (there are trails but they are not great) so we just poked around the edges.

There were lots of birds here, just hanging out, including a big group of pelicans.

Overall, Waskeisiu Lake offers a lot of options and some lovely paddling. It is a big lake (maybe 15km long) and it runs roughly east-west so is prone to some big waves if it is windy.

Waskesiu River, Prince Albert National Park, SK

In mid-June, we took a trip to Prince Albert National Park in Saskatchewan. We've been here before and were looking forward to coming back, this time slightly ahead of the summer crowds. The wildfires to the north of the park caused a bunch of closures in the park, which altered our paddle plans some. Our first day there, we paddled the first bit of the Waskesiu River, from the marina to the bridge.

Before you can paddle in the park (this year), you need to have your boat inspected and cleaned (if your boat has been out of province in the last 45 days). This requires an appointment booked head of time and a quick hot-water wash to kill zebra mussels. No big deal and the staff were great.

The marina has lots of parking and four boat ramps with docks as well as a sandy launch to the right in the photo above. There is normally a fee to launch but not for paddlers.

It was a bit stormy the day we paddled so the photos are a bit dreary. It was nice in person! We went left (east) off the launch and over to the mouth of the river.

There were lots of pelicans and we got chewed out by a very angry loon.

The river is basically what you see below: reeds giving way to a mostly fir forest. There is a current, but barely, so you can float downstream if you want. It was a very easy paddle back upstream when we were done.

We saw lots of birds but no big animals (we did see a bear on the road in, though, and lots of elk and deer at other times).

The float eventually ends at the bridge. You can carry past the plastic floats, stone dam, and footbridge  (maybe 100m) and continue on to the highway if you want. This would be a long paddle and you'd be in and out of your boat a lot carrying over low spots, based on what we saw when we hiked downstream of the bridge the next day.

We turned around and paddled back. There were eagles and osprey overhead, pelicans, lots of ducks with babies, and a big beaver lodge.

This was about a 4km round trip with no power boats anywhere around us and took maybe an hour and a bit (we went slow, enjoying the float).

Happily, the weather improved for the rest of the trip!

Waskesiu Lake, Prince Albert National Park

In July, we spent five days in Prince Albert National Park, primarily paddling on Waskesiu Lake. The lake was very large, but amazing. We paddled off several beaches. I've broken out some of the highlights from our time there.

Main Beach

On the eastern shore of the lake is the town of Waskesiu and the main beach. You can camp, but we stayed at the Lost Creek Resort (very nice). The main beach is about half a km of sand, with a marked swimming area, playground, washrooms, breakwater, and good parking. You can launch off the beach and go north or south. someone in town was renting paddle boards and someone else was giving kayak tours.

The beach was lovely, especially after dinner when most of the families had called it a day. Clean sand, great swimming, almost no one around.

We launched off the beach (which included wheelchair access to the water!).

To the south is Murphy's Bay. This was a very nice paddle with a rocky and forested shore that felt very much like the Canadian Shield.

It was overcast the first day but the bay was calm and it was a lovely paddle.

We also paddled north from the beach one day, up to the top of the map above and then hung out off the main beach while the sun set. We saw all of the usual birds as well as an elk and calf.

Waskesiu Marina and River

To the north of the town in the main marina. You can put in here off the boat launch; parking is in the gravel lot behind the launch. There is a launch fee for power boats but not for kayaks or canoes or SUPs. The main office also rented canoes and kayaks.

This was again a grey-day paddle for us. We went east off the Marina and up the Waskesiu River.

The river was wide and had a manageable current. it was a nice, clean paddle through reeds and fens.

You can go down as far as the bridge before buoys block the way. This was a good paddle on a rougher day out on the lake.

We saw a fox with dinner in its mouth on the way back.

First Narrows

There are a number of beaches you can paddle at as you drive up the south shore of the lake. The furthest west you can go is the First Narrows (which is about half was down the lake). 

There is a camp ground, boat launch, beach, bathrooms, etc. You could rent kayaks and canoes here. We just parked in the day-use area and went off the beach (maybe a 50-foot carry).

We chose this spot on a windy day because the spit of land that juts down from the north provides a sheltered spot to paddle. We went up the west side of the spit, along the north shore, crossed over and came back.

There was a tonne of wildlife. We saw pelicans, loons, and a lake otter.

Tripps Beach

We spent a couple of days at Tripps Beach on the south shore. This was a very clean beach with good swimming and clean toilets. There was almost no one there.

We paddled off the beach one day out to King's Island (about 2km into the lake).

The island was lovely and there were lots of fish in the shallows. Tonnes of birds, including an eagle and osprey.

Best access point to the island is the SE corner, just around a narrow spit of land.

There is a fire pit and picnic bench on the island. We then paddled west back to shore (the wind was picking up) and spent some time swimming off one of the many boat-in only beaches.

Overall, Waskesiu was an amazing lake to paddle and swim on. Lots of boats but the lake is huge so we hardly ever saw one. Clean water, sandy beaches, and no one around. It is a lot like Jasper, minus the mountains and all of the people. I'd totally go back.