Camp Lake has long been on my list of places to visit and I managed a trip in mid-August. Access is through Camp Lake Park on the east side of the lake, a campground run by Beaver County. There is no fee but you do need to check in and sign a waiver at the camp office.
There is a large parking lot, with a port-a-potty and a picnic shelter. There is also a sandy beach, a cement boat launch, floating dock, and gravel shoreline for you to choose among. The water was clean but had a very mountain dew colour to it. Lots of people were swimming there when I put in.
The lake is about 3km north-south and 500m across east-west. The shoreline winds a lot and I'd say the perimeter is about 8km. A full trip took me two hours.
The north end is much less interesting than the south end. The picture below is illustrative of the north end: rocky shoreline with occasional reeds, steep bank and lots of shrubs (chokecherry, wild rose, dogwood, saskatoons). There was honestly just not that much to see.
Heading south, things get a bit more interesting with beaver lodges and a few birds.
The southern half of the lake had many more trees (mostly aspen) and a grassy shoreline, often with a sandy edge. There were a lot more weeds that attracted muskrats, beaver, and waterfowl.
I interrupted this coyote stalking some ducks in the very southern end.
I also followed this bald eagle around the southern end. There were a few power boats on the lake, towing tubes but none in the southern end (it was fairly shallow).
There were lots of birds trying to lead me away from their young.
Overall, this was an okay paddle. It was very windy at times. The lake is too shallow to get big rollers but it was choppy and quite wet. Friends have camped here and said it was a nice campground.
Thomas Lake
Just west of Camp Lake is Thomas Lake. I didn't have the gas to paddle a second lake but I did scout an entry point for the next time I'm down this way. You can get in pretty easily off of Highway 619 (orange arrow). There is a small pull out here where you can park and it is a short haul to the water along the highway right of way.
The photo below looks west from the pull out, towards the orange arrow.
The lake edge is fairly sandy and shallow. The water looked pretty clean here.
The other option may be off of Township Road 480 (green arrow). I did not get up here but it looks like the road ends in an informal boat launch.
In early August, we stopped at Kelley's Bathtub, a day-use area on Jarvis Lake in William Switzer Provincial Park. Jarvis Lake is shaped like a J, with the main access on the south end (i.e., the bottom of the J). Kelley's Bathtub offers both a sheltered paddling spot and easy access to the north end of the lake (the top of the J). Our plan was to paddle across the small, enclosed bay and then lift the boats over into the main lake.
Unfortunately, it was raining like hell when we arrived so we settled for a walk around the bathtub on the trail. The main parking lot offers pit toilets and picnic tables. The visitor centre is also in the parking lot. It is about a 30-meter carry from the parking lot to the water but there is a significant slope.
The shot above looks back at the access point and gives you a sense of the drop and the narrow beach area. The water was clean and this would be a good place to paddle board.
To access Jarvis Lake, you need to paddle across the bathtub, get out of your boat by the bridge (in the picture above), lift over the walk, and get back in. You cannot get under the bridge. The north end of Jarvis was lovely and is sheltered from both west and north winds (sometimes an issue).
You probably want to lift over the board walk on the south end (on the left as you paddle towards it), just in front of where my wife is standing. The bottom there on both sides is pretty good. The bottom on the far side of the bridge had submerged logs and looked way harder.
I'd definitely go back and give this a go the next time where through here.
In early August, we took a quick trip that included a night in Grande Cache. We ran into some bad weather which turned a hoped-for paddle on Victor Lake into a quick scouting report.
Victor Lake
Victor Lake is located about 2km southeast of Grande Cache on Highway 40. The lake serves as the town's reservoir and there are no gasoline-powered engines allowed on the lake. There are a couple of access points.
There is a day-use area (blue arrow) that I took a snap of below. This has a fire pit, some parking, and a fairly easy grass and gravel entry once you lift down a few feet to the lake. The water was clear and clean and there were lots of fish jumping.
Maybe 10 meters further west (green arrow) was a boat launch (looked like gravel). Further down the road, you could get access to what appeared to be an old air strip and has other access points (orange arrow).
Allen Creek flows into Victor Lake by the day-use area and is apparently navigable except there is one point you have to portage around (according to the fellow we spoke with). The west end of the lake looks super interesting. This lake is definitely on my list of places to go back to.
Grande Cache Lake
Just a few kilometres further east on Highway 40 is Grande Cache Lake. It had about twice the foot print of Victor Lake and is prone to getting rough if the wind comes up. The easiest access point is the municipal park just off Highway 40 about half way down the lake.
The park has pit toilets, picnic tables, a playground, a boat launch, floating dock, and a gravel-dirt beach with clean water. The dock was crowded with people fishing the morning we were there.
Access to Allen Creek is about 1km west from the beach. This would probably be my second choice for paddling because of how open it is to the wind.
In early August, we stopped and paddled Gregg Lake in William Switzer Provincial Park, about a half hour north of Hinton on Highway 40. The easiest access was the day-use area, which included a boat launch, floating dock, playground, pit toilets and picnic tables. You can park right beside concrete ramp and either go in that way or off the shallow and firm gravel-sand bottom beside it.
There are boat rentals here if you arrive without your own. The lake is about 3km north-south and 500m east-west and takes about two hours to paddle at a moderate pace.
We went off the ramp and then turned left (north) and followed the western shore (a concession to the slight wind when we started out).
The shoreline is basically this all the way around the lake, sometimes with a screen of reeds at the shore.
We saw a couple of deer while we paddled and lots of birds, including loons and eagles.
There are a handful of small islands and then one much larger island (eastern shore, half way down).
At the north end, one of the swampier sets of islands is covered with nesting boxes. These are small and I think for swallows.
The wind had died off by the time we got to the north end and the whole run down the eastern edge gave us beautiful reflections.
The sun is obscuring the image below a bit, but in the distance is a beaver lodge on the bank in shallow water. What I was trying to illustrate was one of the deeper channels (dark area) that the beavers had dug out through the shallows so they could get in and out under the ice. The whole shallow delta here was covered in a network of deeper channels.
Fiddling with camera settings.
When we got to the south end, we could see that the water was high enough to get into Jarvis Creek and go upstream a ways. The map below shows the boat launch (purple arrow), the entrance to Jarvis (blue arrow) and how far we got (the pond at the orange arrow).
Jarvis was pretty wide (6 meters?) at this point, compared with further upstream where it is maybe half or less this width. It has been a wet summer and it rained two days before, so the creek may not always be navigable.
We basically wound our way up about 1 km (20 minutes?) to a small pond I saw on the map. As we got close, we hung a left and went down a smaller grassy channel into the pond. We could have gone further upstream but we were pooped and decided to float back.
There were a few obstructions along the way, in the form of trees hanging low or submerged and this part of the creek is not recommended for paddling (there is a stretch upstream designated for this that I posted about last week).
When we got back to the launch, it was hopping (noon on a Saturday!) but there was still room to park.
Overall, an amazing paddle on a lovely lake. The water was clear and swimmable the whole time and there were lots of shallow parts on the western edge where you could wade out a long way.
In early August, we were in William Switzer Provincial Park for a few days and wanted to paddle Blue Lake and Cache Lake. This ended up being slight more complicated than expected but was a great trip. My initial plan was to simply drive over to the Bus Lake boat launch (purple arrow) or park (blue arrow below) and carry down the slope (yellow arrow) to the lake.
Two problems arose. The first was that there was a locked gate (red arrow) to keep people out of the Blue Lake Centre (which seems quasi closed, although not totally abandoned when we walked around it). I'm also not sure whether the boat launch is publicly accessible when the Centre is open.
The second problem was that the path down the slope from the parking lot was steep and rooted and muddy and it was wet as hell. Yeah, you could do it but I wasn't up for a tumble on the mud with a boat on my head. The picture above is the entrance and underplays how steep it was; the picture below is where the path come out at the lake (shot the next day from the water)
What we decided to do paddle into Cache Lake, find Jarvis Creek, paddle 2km up the creek, and then hang a right into Blue Lake
Cache Lake
The best access to Cache Lake is at the canoe takeout in the Graveyard Lake Campground (purple arrow, which is actually on Jarvis Creek). This required a few kms on a gravel road and the campground is a nice seven-site, grassy campground with pit toilets, garbage cans, fire pits and picnic tables. It was empty when we were there.
You can park right beside the creek and either enter at the bottom of a small slope (right behind my truck, in the photo below) and paddle 100m south into Cache Lake. Alternately, you can walk up a short, signed path over a bridge and get pretty close to Cache Lake. You might have to do this if Jarvis Creek is low, as the first 30 meters is shallow.
The slope is a bit steep (maybe a 1.5m vertical drop with some quasi- mud and grass steps). The shot below gives you a sense of the height. If this is too daunting, there is always the 30m carry to a gentle bank entry.
At the bottom of the slope is a little ledge of mud and gravel to get in off of. It was wet the days we were there and this was both gooey and slippery as hell in our water shoes! If I had to do it again, I would enter about 3 meters to the left (up stream) from where Jenn has gone in in the picture below.
Once in the water, we paddled 100m upstream. There was a slight S-curve that was shallow and someone has re-arranged rocks to create a paddle-able channel here.
Cache Lake was amazing. Clear, clean water with fir trees on the shore. The perimeter was maybe 3km so about 45 minutes.
We were watching a loon with two chicks when suddenly it started making a distress call. Over our shoulders came an osprey carrying a fish with a bald eagle in hot pursuit. I'm going to try to embed the video below (fingers crossed).
There was quite a dog fight and the osprey eventually out turned and out climbed the eagle and everyone calmed down.
We did a quick circuit of the lake, including the large island in the middle and eventually found the entrance to Jarvis Creek (green arrow in map above).
Jarvis Creek
Jarvis Creek is a fairly gentle creek, maybe 3 to 5 meters wide that flows through a boggy fen. It is part of a canoe trip you can take from Highway 40 (orange arrow above) to the pull out at Graveyard Lake campground (purple arrow). We saw some folks putting in off Highway 40 the next day as we drove out of the park.
I understand that this trip is sometimes not possible at lower water levels. About a third of the way in, you can turn west and access Blue Lake (blue arrow). I'd say if you were just doing the creek, you should allot maybe an hour for the trip (which is about 4km), more if you plan to paddle one or both lakes (and why wouldn't you?).
The access to Jarvis Creek from Cache Lake was easy to find and the paddle was pretty straight forward. There is a bit of a current but it was no big deal.
There is some signage along the way but basically you just stay in the main channel.
After about 2km (45 minutes), you will see a sign saying Blue Lake that points down a smaller channel with lots of grass. This is a short spur with no real current that dumps you into Blue Lake.
The grass is pretty tall here!
Blue Lake
Blue Lake is a small lake (maybe a 3km perimeter) with lovely clean water that had a deep blue-green colour to it.
There is a small landing on the north side (where the Blue Lake Centre boat launch is) with pit toilets (locked!), a picnic table, and some canoes. We stopped here for a snack and to stretch our legs. You could swim from here.
We then did a quick circuit of Blue Lake.
You can see the dining hal at the top of the hill in the picture below).
We then reversed our trip back down Jarvis Creek (a 20-minute ride with the current!), crossed Cache Lake again and pulled out where we put in. The round trip took us just under three hours.
Jarvis Creek continues into nearly Graveyard Lake and then on to Gregg Lake. The signage and google maps suggests that there are a lot of blockages and paddling that way isn't recommended. We'll maybe check out Graveyard Lake next time we're in the area.
