In late June, I was in Calgary and spent a couple of hours on the water in the Bowness Lagoon with a friend. Access is in front of the restaurant, on the right as you enter the park. We carried from the parking lot (maybe 40m) but you can drop your boats about 15m away and go park.
The cement launch is pretty handy. Other folks, especially using SUPs, just launched from shore. The water was murky (usually is clear in the summer but the river was quite silty) and there are no swimming/wading signs.
The lagoon is pretty small. We did a quick lap, noting that the water was very high (likely because the nearby Bow River was also high).
There are boat rentals here and a nice little canal to paddle through. There were lots of ducks and geese.
The more interesting part of the paddle is up the creek that brings water in from the river. To access it, go under the car bridge that brought you into the park and head west.
The creek isn't always super passable and the rental folks ask you not to take their boats up the creek. We had no problems with the high water, Last year, we did have to carry over one low section.
There were a few downed trees to duck under or otherwise navigate around.
It is just over a kilometre to the far end, just underneath Stoney Trail. While the water does flow in here, there is no access to the river (although you could likely portage to it).
We then had a nice float back. It was a Tuesday night and there were a small number of SUPs on the water (mostly people just floating and talking).
Overall, a reasonable beginner paddle that is doable even on a windy day when the reservoir is rolling.
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