Castor Creek (Parr Reservoir) and Big Knife Provincial Park

In late June, I detoured on a trip to Calgary to the east of Red Deer and visited Castor Creek. The creek was dammed in the 1940s to create Parr Reservoir in what was once a coulee. The resulting "lake" is about 3.5km long and maybe 20m wide (this varies). Because it is down below the level of the surrounding land, there isn't much wind but there are a lot of interesting sandstone cliffs. 

Access is in the town of Castor (green arrow above). There is a parking lot and proper boat launch, with a concrete ramp and two docks. There are also picnic tables, what was once a small sandy beach, and a hellsketchy change room and toilet (maybe the worst I've been in a couple of years). The water was dark but smelled okay. You could definitely SUP but I would not want to swim here.

There was no one there the day I went (mid-day on a Tuesday in late June) but the north part of the lake is used for waterskiing. I went left (north) off the dock and paddled to the outflow and back in about 80 minutes (at a slow pace). The pictures below are basically representative. There are some steep hills with rosebushes, a few bullrushes along the shore, and then some cliff faces.

There are lots of swallows nesting on the sandstone and some of the cliffs show exposed coal seams.

The far northwest corner has the outflow which is just a giant hole the water flows into (blocked off by these posts). This was the only part of the creek with any noticeable current.

As I came around the last corner, I saw a lifejacket floating in the water (fortunately empty).

The paddle back to the boat ramp was fairly uneventful. There were lots of cormorants, ducks, red-winded black birds, and I heard (but could not spot) an owl.

Back at the launch, I paddled south under the bridge. Here, the creek narrows some and I would say this was the more interesting paddle, with more varied cliffs and more birds. I ran out of road at the next bridge because beavers had dammed the creek. It was only a one-foot height difference but that was enough to turn me back. You could, certainly, get past this if you were keen.

More cliffs and some of the swallow nests built into them. These nests were everywhere.

The whole paddle lasted about two hours and was definitely interesting. Whomever did the facebook advertising that got pushed into my feed certainly did good job showing off the best parts of this paddle! I'm not sure it was worth a 2.5 hour drive, but I also got to stop at Big Knife Provincial Park (about 45km NW of Castor) and you could easily make this a two-fer or an overnighter, if you camp.

Big Knife Provincial Park

Big Knife PP is located 3km west of Highway 855, between Heisler and Halkirk on the south bank of the Battle River. There is a campground here along with a day-use area and boat launch.

The launch has a cement ramp and you can drop your boat right beside the water. Parking and washrooms are a little ways off.

The Battle River is pretty slow and meandering so there is lots of opportunity to paddle here and bird watch. The water wasn't too gross although there was a bit of goop right at the launch.

I shot the two photos below from a small hill about halfway between the highway and the park to give you a sense of the topography. Basically a winding river with lots of oxbows.

I think this would be an okay place to paddle, but I didn't have time to put in and check it out.

Anglin Lake, Prince Albert National Park, SK

In late June, we spent a morning on Anglin Lake, just south of Prince Albert National Park. Anglin Lake is a reservoir and sprawls over a large area. One option for entry is the Great Blue Heron Regional Park on the eastern end. There is a day-use fee here ($10, I think), a campground, standard boat launch, and a beach with put toilets and a picnic shelter.

This entry offers good access to the eastern part of the lake. The water looked lovely and was mostly empty when we were there (one kayaker and one guy unloading a fishing boat).

A second option is the Anglin Lake Bridge, about two-thirds of the way towards the west end of the lake. Again, a day-use fee applies. This allows access to the western basin (down towards the dam or up towards the Spruce River inflow) or the middle basin.

We decided to put in here because it looked the most interesting. Access is down a grassy slope on either side of the bridge. 

The west side looked easier but both required wet feet.

We paddled east, under the bridge and into the middle basin and did a circuit.

The middle basin basically looks like the image below: reeds and grassy slopes give way into an aspen forest. We saw a deer frolicking in the shallows (no picture).

We also annoyed this poor heron who flew off.

The lake was calm and mostly empty. On the south shore of the middle basin, there looks to be a public boat launch and we saw a fishing boat unloading there.

We paddled around a couple of islands before heading back towards the bridge.

A few dragon flies were rescued.

The western basin had more fir trees on the northern shore and was, overall, bit more rugged looking.

You cross into the National Park in this basin.

The inflow of the Spruce River  is just to the left of the trees in the picture below, but we didn't get that far up the lake.

After pulling out, we followed the road to the south end of the lake where the dam is. It was good walk from the parking area along the top of the dam and there were lots of butterflies.

The outflow of the dam itself was surprisingly small.

There is a launch here but this end of the lake looked a bit boring.

Overall, a pretty nice lake with enough to explore over several paddles. The folks we talked to said the fishing was also good (jack and walleye).

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.