North Saskatchewan River: Devon to Edmonton

A popular (and easy) paddle in Edmonton is the North Saskatchewan River. We put in upstream of the city and floated into town. You can also put in town and then float out. The map below shows our route, which started in Devon (bottom left) and ended at Laurier Park (about 30km).

The entry point at Devon is nice. You have to go into town and then catch a Saskatchewan Avenue West down to the river. There is a boat launch, toilets and a picnic area. The boat launch is just downstream of the Highway 60 bridge. We had a very short carry to the water (40 feet?) even though the launch itself was hopping.

Once launched, you are looking at a 5-7 hour float into town. There is a whole lot of the picture below as the river winds. There is some interesting geology (look for the coal seams).

There are lots of islands and beaches to pull out on for lunch but no bathrooms! The gravel bars and discourteous boaters help pass the time.

I was pretty happy to see the Anthony Hendry bridge. This is the first viable place to pull out (on the right hand side just before the bridge). It looked like it would be a bit of a wrangle to get the canoe up to the parking area.

We stayed with it for another hour or so. You can pull out again at the Terwillegar dog park but that is a long carry to the parking lot. Just below Fort Edmonton you can pull out beneath the Quesnel Bridge (on the right, maybe a 30-foot carry to the road) or just a bit further down at the White Mud Creek Park (right hand side, immediate after the creek enters the river). This is maybe a 200-foot carry to the parking lot.

Lots of people (including the various touring companies) pull out on the left hand side at Laurier Park. This is a proper boat launch and you can get your car within 20 feet of the water here. This is where we pulled out.

I've also floated further down to Emily Murphy Park. You can pull out on the right side of the river right after the Groat Bridge. The bank is a bit steep here and if the water the high, the little beach can be under water.

Overall, a long but easy trip on a very calm river. Makes sure you take plenty of water and a hat as the sun is relentless.

Islet Lake

About 30km east of Sherwood Park on Wye Road (which becomes Highway 630) is Islet Lake.  Access is from Township Road 200, which goes north off Highway 630 just as 630 bends south. Islet Lake is part of the sprawling Cooking Lake-Blackfoot Provincial Recreation Area.



The parking lot has pit toilets, water, a cooking shelter and picnic tables. Beach access requires a 200-foot carry that descends about 30 feet to the water. The gravel trail to the lake takes off from behind the cooking shelter and runs west. Eventually you come out to this sand and gravel beach.

As you can see from the map above, the lake has some islands, the biggest of which is the one below. The last time we were here (2000 or 2001?) we saw a huge beaver on the east shore.

The weather was lovely (30 degrees, no clouds, slight breeze). The water is pretty murky (can't see the bottom of your paddle) and Jenn picked up a small leech getting in or out.

There are lots of views like the one above, with the sun sparkling off the ripples. Apologies for the streak on my camera lens. There were about 10 other cars in the lot on Sunday at 11 am, most with boats. The lake is large enough that we rarely saw anyone else and there are no motorized boats.

 There are beaver lodges, deadheads galore and we saw lots of water fowl and a pair of hawks.

Overall, a nice prairie paddle with lots of time to appreciate the huge skies. If you are looking for a beach, however, you might prefer Miquelon Lake Provincial Park to the south. I hope to put in there later this summer.

Jackfish Lake

Jackfish Lake is located about 60km west of Edmonton, just south of Highway 16 off Secondary Highway 770. This is a small lake (about 2 km of surface area) with lots of bays. The size and shape seems to keep the waves down.



Public access is on the east side of the lake and includes a nice boat launch, lots of parking, washrooms and picnic site. The county dings you $20 to gain access to the launch and the parking.

The lakeshore is almost completely developed. There were a fair number of birds and the paddling was nice. There is also at least one island.

The major issue with this lake is the power boaters. The locals seemed reasonable enough but the yahoos putting in at the boat launch were most discourteous! Going early in the day seems like the best plan.

The lake has no public beach but plenty of swimmers. The bottom that we could see was quite sandy.

Lake Louise, Banff

Lake Louise is located about 5km west of the hamlet of Lake Louise, itself about 40 minutes NW of Banff. The small lake is glacier-fed and has a lovely blue-green colour as a result.

Access to the lake requires a carry of about 500 feet from the parking lot (more if you get there late and end up in the overflow parking) up a gentle slope. Your best bet, if you bring your own, it to launch off the rocks in front of the people below. The water is very cold!

You can also rent canoes from hotel's docks, which is what we did this trip.

There is a hiking trail along the NW edge of the lake and two tea houses you can visit.

The lake is narrow about you can get to the other end in about 15 minutes of paddling. There is no real reason to hurry as the views are stunning.

The setting is so lovely, it is hard to take  bad picture here.

At the far end of the lake there is a small stream which feeds the lake. We ground out in our efforts to paddle up it but you might have better luck in a kayak.

Below, looking back down the lake, you can see the Chateau Lake Louise. There is a creek by the hotel that is the main outflow but it is not navigable.

This is a short paddle and might be nicely paired with a paddle on nearby Moraine Lake (which was on the back of the old $20 bill). Moraine Lake is often overrun with tourists and I have yet to visit (generally we get turned back due to lack of parking). I believe there are also canoe rental available at Moraine Lake lodge and, if I arrived in the area early in the day, I would start at Moraine and do Louise later.

Vermilion Lakes, Banff

The Vermilion Lakes are located due west of the town of Banff and can be accessed from the townsite (via Forty-Mile Creek) or directly from the Vermilion Lakes Road. Oddly, Forty-Mile Creek is listed as Echo Creek on the google map below.

The Banff Canoe Club rents both kayaks and canoes. We launched from their beach which gives access to both the Bow River and 40-Mile Creek. 

The first lake is located about a 15-minute paddle up 40-Mile Creek, which includes passing under a train bridge and navigating some deadfall.

The first lake is a pleasant paddle with a roundtrip of about an hour. Access to the other two lakes is via another creek (along the north side of the lake paralleling the road--hard to see from the water). Doing the second two lakes would add about another hour to your trip.

The scenery is spectacular, although the lakes are shallow. The furtherest lake has a natural hot spring. We saw an Osprey catch a fish and paddled past a family of nearly mature Canada Geese feeding on the weeds.

You can see the dock you can launch directly into the lake from in the picture below. The cut in the bank above is the TransCanada Highway.

The return down Forty-Mile creek is a bit more fun as you have the help of the current. Some of the turns are tight (as evidenced by the many bow prints on the muddy banks!).

 The creek was fairly busy the day were were there and lovely photos abound.

Overall, a nice paddle suitable for first timers with limited endurance and skill.

Sturgeon River and Big Lake, St Albert

A spring bike ride took us along the banks of the Sturgeon River in St Albert this weekend. The trail leads west out of town to Big Lake. On our way back, we noticed the river was high enough that the boat launch was actually feasible. I've wanted to canoe the Sturgeon for awhile.

We decided to take advantage of the spring water and hauled the canoe back there today. The boat launch is on the north side of the river, accessible off Mission Avenue. There is a public parking lot right there so the carry is less than 100 feet. The place was hopping with a dozen kayaks and two canoes on the river.

The water was high so the river was navigable down to at least Boudreau Road. We decided to go upstream towards Big Lake to check out the old trestle bridge and the wildlife.

We had a lovely paddle with lots of waterfowl and red-winged black birds. Paddling through a downtown with people on the trails and playing guitar up in the trees (local colour, as my dad would say) was a very different and enjoyable experience. Past the bridges the traffic thinned out some.

We saw at least seven muskrats out, including a pair playing. The best shot I could get (while steering) was this one (the brown smudge in the centre is the muskrat). Jess got very close to a pair of them (maybe four feet).

Overall, a lovely hour on the river. Nothing too challenging except staying in a channel deep enough to get a paddle in. The Sturgeon is much more suited to kayaks.

Blackstrap Lake

Blackstrap Lake is located about 30 minutes south of Saskatoon on Highway 11. On the east side of the lake is Blackstrap Lake Provincial Park. The narrow lake was created in 1967 and is about 14km long. It is bisected by a causeway, but there is a boat pass through to get between the halves.

The public boat launch is located south of Blackstrap Ski Hill (pictured below), in the provincial park. You can also launch off the public beach, if you don’t mind a 200-foot carry from the parking lot in the Aspen Grove picnic area.

The lake is fairly warm, weedy and was full of green algae when we were there. There was enough algae that a fish kill was occurring, which made the already smelly lake rather odiferous. There isn’t all that much to see (although we did see pelicans and a large number of fowl and other birds). All told, not a lake we’d go back to.

There are few services in the park or the surrounding area. The gas station/grocery store/subway/motel in Dundurn is about the only place to buy food or fuel without going back to Saskatoon.

It may also be possible to canoe into Indi Lake (via a river) from the south end of Blackstrap Lake, but we didn’t get that far on this trip. Based on google maps, I would say you’d end up portaging 2km, incuding crossing a divided highway!