Floatingstone Lake

In late July, we took a trip to Bonnyville to try some new lakes. High on my list was Floatingstone Lake, about half way between Smokey Lake and Bonnyville. The lake has a pretty long shoreline (we cut off some of the bays and still paddled almost 3 hours (~12km).

The easiest access is on the south shore through the municipal campground. There is a day-use area with a cement boat launch, dock, and sandy beach. There was no charge to use this access and we could drop right beside the water. There were also pit toilets, a picnic shelter, playground, and swimming area. The campground store also sold drinks and ice cream.

We went off the beach and turned right (east) towards the islands.

The undeveloped shoreline is basically reeds then aspen forest. There are some areas where the shore is rocky and you could get out more easily.

We had great weather and it was calm and quiet. As the day went on, a bit of wind picked up and we also had boats pulling tubes.

The islands were super cool and would be a fun stop to explore with kids. We just kept paddling since the weather was so nice.

Over in the eastern end of the lake we paddled over this weird rock. 

I will be a bear of a job to get that out of the lake. We also saw some deer and lots of cormorants and a crazy number of loons.

The western shore is more developed with cabins and also a ranch.

Overall, a lovely paddle that I'd happily do again. I'm glad we went back. Our first attempt (two days earlier) was scuppered by stormy weather!

Since it was too lousy to paddle (wind gave way to rain), we spent some time checking out Upper Mann Lake. The easiest launch looked to be on the west end, off Dickson Road. The lake has receded since this cement launch was constructed. The shot below shows the end of the launch (I'm standing about half way to the present shore).

You could still get a boat in here but the mud flats looked challenging and I was not up to bumscooting 50 feet to get water under my keel.

There might be better access somewhere else but I didn't find it!