Canoeing in Backcountry

A quick canoe camping weekend in Lakeland

By Bri Vos

September 3^rd, 2015

Summer is always hectic for us but this summer was particularly busy. To catch our breath before September hit, we blocked off 3 days, strapped a canoe to our car and set out towards the north. With just enough time to sample an area of Alberta we’ve always wanted to explore, we cruised the gravel roads down into Lakeland Provincial Park and Lakeland Recreational Area.

With a portage route that could take you 10 days to see every lake and trail, we decided to paddle in a few lakes, find a waterfront site for our tent and stay put doing nothing but reading and fishing and sketching and eating and drinking.

The Lakeland park staff made it easy for us portage our canoe in from the Jackson Lake staging area with 20+ portage carts waiting to help move your gear the 3.8km to the dock. And when I say, made it easy for us, I mean easy for Patrick who did all of the portaging while I walked and snacked and enjoyed the nature around me.

We canoed a couple kilometres down the north tip of Jackson lake, slipped under the isthmus bridge that is the tenuous barrier between Jackson and Kinnaird and paddled down the middle of Kinnaird lake aiming for the islands lying south of us.

We ended up finding a particularly beautiful sandy beach on the peninsula south of the islands and set up camp for the weekend. Minimally equipped with bear safe food lockers and an open to nature outhouse a little ways down the path, this site was ideal.