Reesor Lake

In early July, we were at the Reesor Lake reservoir in the Cypress Hills Intraprovincial Park, just southeast of Medicine Hat. it is an interesting drive into the area; watch out for cows on the road! It looks like you could get into the lake at either end with a bit of work but the easiest access was at the day-use area about halfway down the lake.

Lots of parking, a proper boat launch, and sandy bit beside it for beach(ish) launch. There are also pit toilets, benches, and the whole area (including the fishing platform) has received an upgrade since I was last here in 2019 (I think). There was a canoe rack here and it looks like you can rent canoes from the shack at Elkwater Lake (but there were no canoes in the rack or on the lake).

We waited out rain and crazy fog and then went in a mild breeze, grinding northwest into the wind and then being pushed back to the other end.

The north shore is mostly scrub with lots of lovely wild flowers. Lots of shorebirds here.

The moister south shore of the lake is wooded with pines. Below you there are grebes, pelicans, and a lone eagle in the pine tree.

The morning fog had visibility down to 50 feet at one point. The eagle was trying to dry its feathers out in the breeze after the fog lifted.

We sailed back down the lake to the dam at the southeast end. This was much more alpine than Elkwater Lake. There is a decent-sized campground at this end of the lake.

Then we paddled back. Maybe an hour round trip?

Overall, a nice enough paddle with clean water and only a few others kayaks on the lake. Great bird watching and a bit of a shame the weather was not great (second time I've tried for a sunny day here).

Reesor Lake, Cypress Hills

Work took me past the Cypress Hills so I decided to stay the night in Elkwater (just southeast of Medicine Hat). There were two lakes I wanted to check out. The first was Reesor lake (which is a reservoir).



Reesor is southeast of the townsite and you you have to drive up to the top of the plateau and then back down. The road is paved all the way. I had pretty bad weather (driving up in the clouds with visibility of about 300 feet) but then things improved as the road dropped back down to the lake.

The picture above looks east down the lake from the first roadside pullout. You could get a boat in by the picnic table but the better access point is midway down the lake (below). There is a large gravel lot, washrooms, picnic tables, and a boat launch.

Boats with electric motors are allowed on the lake and there were two fishermen pulling out when I got there. there were also a lot of pelicans on the south side of the lake (breeding colony?)

The road continued to the east end of the lake. This end includes the dam and a turn-around spot. I think you could also get in here if you worked at it. The road turns to gravel and continued east towards Fort Walsh but looked wrecked in the raid (greasy clay base).

It was simply too cold to paddle (6 degrees on June 1 with drizzle) but I might go back if I were down here. There is also access to the spruce ponds off the same road, but, again, the road surface looks way to dodgy to try given how wet it was.