First Chain Lake (Ponoka)

In late August, we found ourselves in Red Deer. After a night in a motel on the dodgy side of Gasoline Alley (every hotel in town was, somehow, full???), we headed for home and stopped at the First Chain Lake, just east of Ponoka on our way. Access is on the east side of the lake, coming down Range Road 250 from the north, take the right fork down to the water.

The launch is sand, with space to park. There are no facilities here. I don't normally flag road conditions (since they change) but, like the Second Chain Lake, this entry might not be for everyone. Below you can see the launch from the water and, on the right, the road down to the launch.

It is fairly steep and the sandy soil can erode. I didn't have any trouble getting down (or back up) in our Escape (I just went slowly). If it was super wet, the tire tracks suggest some floorin' it might be required.

The lake runs north-south. It is about 2.5 or 3km long and maybe 100m wide. The shore is reeds giving way to steep wooded slopes.

Overall, the lake has a pretty alpine feel to it and offers good wind protection from the east or west. Google maps suggested the lake might be pinched by a swamp about half way up but that turned out to be a loose set of lily pads that were easy to navigate.

We did the whole lake in about an hour without really breaking a sweat. There was no one on the lake at 9 am on a Saturday.

Overall, this a nice prairie lake. The water was very murky (like slightly diluted motor oil) and there were lots of bugs in the water, so might not be the best for paddle boarding.

Payne Lake

In late August, we stopped on our way back from Waterton at Payne Lake, just west of Cardston. Payne Lake is a reservoir and includes two campgrounds and a nice boat launch in the provincial recreation area.

There was a cement boat launch, a dock, and an easy gravel launch right in front of where we parked. There were also pit toilets.

The lake runs northwest to southeast and is about 3.5km long and 1 km wide. We went up the southwest shore.

Mostly the shoreline is trees and open grazing land and there were lots of cows.

The mountains in the distance were super pretty. The water was sometimes clear and sometimes had a bit of algae.

We saw lots of pelicans and there were a couple of small islands. Despite it being Friday afternoon at the height of summer, there was almost no one on the lake once we got out of the south end.

The north shore is more agricultural and really shows off the huge sky.

It was hot (28 degrees) and calm and a very nice paddle. Nothing super notable about the lake, but a very nice paddle. It looks us about 90 minutes to go around and we short-cutted the north bay cause we ran out of water!

As a note to myself, if I was to go back through here, I'd also look into Beaverdam Lake (just east), the Waterton Reservoir (to the north) and also Outpost Lake in Police Outpost Provincial Park, just south of Beazer.

Cameron Lake

In late August, we spent a few days in Waterton Lake National Park doing some volunteer stuff (collecting wheat grass seed for restoration efforts and battling the scourge of burdock). In between, we drove up to Cameron Lake. Waterton has restricted outside boats to control invasive so we rented a pair of kayaks and set off down the lake.

You can launch off the dock or the nearby beach. The lake runs basically north-south and the perimeter is 6km (or maybe a bit more). It took us about 90 minutes with some gawking down at the far end. The far end of the lake is actually in the US.

We went clockwise. Much of the north end of the lake (and the drive in) was burned in 2017. The silvered pine trunks are an interesting contrast to the green undergrowth and were full of purple fireweed (not obvious in photos, but amazing in person--like a mauve mist up though the trees).

The north end of the lake was pretty crowded with boaters. About half way down, we left everyone else behind.

Except this eagle that we followed (or chased) around the lake.

It is hard to overstate how pretty the lake was. Clear water, rocky bottom, majestic peaks, yada, yada. Very reminiscent of Lake Louise minus the zillion tourists. The weather was also exceptional, 20 degrees and sunny with a slight breeze.

The south end was interesting. There are a few islands, some ponds behind the shoreline, amazing waterfalls, a bit of late-season snow high up. Watching the mountainside continue down towards the lake bottom is always cool. There are places to get out down here to stretch your legs but no real place to go.

You can hike a ways down the western shore on a path and there are small beaches here (if you want something more secluded than the main beach).

Parks Canada has done an amazing job of restoring all of the facilities throughout Waterton that were damaged (or destroyed) during the fire. All of the toilets and picnic shelters are new, clean, and accessible. Even the pavement was great.

This was definitely one of the best paddles of the summer. I'd totally do Cameron Lake again. If we'd gone with our own boats we would have spent a lot more time down at the other end just enjoying the views.

Beauvais Lake

In late August, we headed south towards Waterton and put in at Beauvais Lake (just 30ish km west of Pincher Creek). Access is through the the Beauvais Lake Provincial Park (no fees) and there is also camping available here.

The launch was great. You can drop your boats at the edge of the lake. There is a cement launch and a gravel shore launch right beside the dock. You can also go off the dock and there is a proper kayak launch. There were also nice pit toilets here.

The lake is 3km (or maybe a bit more) long and about half a km wide, running northwest to southeast. We paddled it clockwise. Immediately left off the launch is a series of private cabins that eventually give way to a public day use area.

We had basically every kind of weather in the hour and a bit we paddled here except snow. It started out cloudy. Then the wind came way up and blew us down the lake.

The lake was pretty weedy in late August and there was a lot of fishing and fish jumping.

The wind eventually quit and blue skies appeared to the north. And then it poured as we hit the southeast end of the lake.

We paddled back on the southwest shore, which was swampy and then eventually gave away to an alpine vibe (rocky with a steep slope and fir trees.

As the skies cleared, you could see the mountains.

The northwest end was also swampy but the water was very clear.

Overall, a great paddle and great facilities. I'm not sure I'd go out of my way to come here. But, if I was driving along the mountains (to or from Waterton), I might well come back (with my rain coat!).