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.

Second Chain Lake (Morningside)

In late May, I drove SE of Ponoka to try out the Chain Lakes. I put in on the southern lake and didn't get to the northern one. The Chain Lakes by Ponoka shouldn't be confused with the Chain Lakes Provincial Park and reservoir between Pincher Creek and Long View.

The easiest access is east off Highway 2 at the Morningside underpass onto Secondary Highway 604. This turn into Township Road 420 at Morningside. Just keep going east. It eventually turns to gravel and, if you start throwing a bow wave, you went too far. Access is through a Habitat preserve on the north side of the road and down a steep gravel road that has been catted out of the hillside.

At the bottom, there a boat launch, a big parking space about 30 feet up the hill from the water, two portapotties, and some garbage cans. Everything was in good repair when I was there.

The lake is down in a deep valley and has a bit of an alpine feel to it. There was no cell coverage in the parking lot but you could get a signal on the dock and on the water. The water was clear and clean. There were a lot of aquatic bugs and whatnot in the lake so it would be a bit gross for swimming, I think.

The lake is about 2.5km long and maybe 100m across. I went north of the boat launch and this is basically what you get the whole way.

The shoreline is all private owned and there is some docks and such. The north end is a bit of a swamp. Google maps suggests you can paddle through this to the northern lake. I'm not so sure. It was very reedy and log choked here. I did see a young bald eagle cruising the waterfowl, looking for breakfast.

The east side is more deciduous and prairie-lake like. Maybe a fire went down the eastern side 30 years ago? Anyhow, it was pretty enough. Lots of moose and deer poop and prints but no animals. 

The south end of the lake ends in reeds. The water seems to flow through to Magee Lake to the south, but I don't think you could paddle through the fens.

The only weedy part was the SW corner of the lake and this was "charming weedy" rather than "gross weedy".

Overall, a very nice lake. It took me just under 2 hours to paddle the whole shoreline at a very stately pace. It was maybe 6km around (maybe a touch less). I saw two boats out drift casting and otherwise it was empty.