Most dangerous lakes in alberta

[FISHBATTEREDBEER]

Summer or winter danger:

-Touchwood has a spring I was told by F&W
-Pinehurst has a rock pile left of the island straight across from the boat launch
-Whitefish also has a rocky shallow area straight across from launch
-Wabamun has thin ice near Sundance and the train trestle
-Calling is very rocky for a long ways from launch
-Slave has thin ice spots around the narrows (most yrs)

[JDK71]

Burnt Stick Lake has about 5 open spots on it this year .They are 1x1 and2x2 holes be care full out there Caroline area

[Bemoredog]

Lake Minnewanka can be dangerous because the winds are irregular and can whip up white caps without notice.

I find Sylvan slightly dangerous because even with moderate winds the waves seem to get quite large compared to other lakes.

Spray Lakes often has dead heads and lots of dead trees along the bottom to snag your down rigger if you aren't careful. Wind (and overall weather) can be unpredictable.

CVR has several low spots. Sand bars and rocky outcroppings. There's a notable area in the middle area of the lake. If reservoir levels are low you can run aground, lose a prop or smash your lower leg. There are also other rocky outcroppings all over the lake that you need to be wary of as they literally come out of nowhere. One time I was slow trolling and ran straight into a hunk of cement about 20 feet from shore. Luckily no damage, but scary nonetheless as you're about as far from the dock as possible. If you're trolling into shallow areas I recommend pulling up your main motor to avoid any damage. Insight Genesis maps are helpful too.

Twin Valley has similar issues as CVR, particularly towards the north end where a sand bar extends almost across the reservoir. There is an area where you can progress around it to the far West side. You can also cross over the bar but your chances of getting hung up are high. The area is noticeable because lots of water birds hang out there and stand on the bar. There is also some makeshift markers folks have put in over the years (pile of rocks and sticks) that you will see when levels are low. CVR also has soft spots in the winter so driving on is risky.

[Wally Diver]

Moose lake has Pelican point.

[dutchpirate]

Summertime gust fronts can whip Newell up something fierce. One summer I was struggling in 6' waves to load my sailboat on it's trailer.

[Ruzycki]

Be careful on lac la biche in the summer. Lots of shallow spots/sand bars.

[Alta_Redneck]

It's been a few years since I've been on the lake and the water levels have come up since but there's a rocky outcropping with drop offs on both side by pelican point on gull lake. It's quite a ways off shore. It surprised us as we were trolling closer to shore and decided to head out a bit deeper and when I looked down you could see large rocks just below the surface. It stretches for 100 yards or so.

Crawling valley is another one. Waves can whip up really quick and lots of islands.

[Sooner]

Calling Lake can get nasty weather and wind faster than a fart in summer. If you see it brewing on the west side, be ready. Comes fast. Huge swells.

Lac Nanonne has a spring between the church camp and island on the east shore. Locals know of it. I and the GF found it on sleds 25 yrs ago. I hear the lake levels are lower now so not an issue but be aware.

Lac St Anne has a rock pile between rock island and shore. Go slow if you find yourself there.

Devils lake by Onoway has springs and has claimed a few lives already. Orloff too.

[Ken07AOVette]

Cold Lake both summer and winter.

Being 20 miles across, a quick wind can whip up some amazing waves.

In winter the pressure cracks quite often happen overnight and snow blows in filling the crack, bad news and a day ender.

[EZM]

Many lakes have hazards out here - but - I have to say, until I did some trips on big desolate lakes in the Canadian Shield ..... I thought I knew about dangerous lakes and reefs.

Reindeer and Athapapaskew both had hard rock cliffs - in some cases only inches below the water - with hundreds of yards to the nearest shoreline. In many cases these outcrops are right in the middle of an island and the shoreline a mile apart and it goes from deep water (in some cases over 100 feet) to 6 inches of water - straight freaking down like you are standing on the top of a building.

Some of these crazy outcrops are marked and mapped, but many (or most) are not. You gotta know where you are going and you need a guide.

Some of these cliffs and reefs are only as big as your living room - and you may have passed the area at full speed only 20 feet away - and, you would be fine and never know how bad it could have been. Like in my case. Then, on the way back, your path is only 20 feet over (following your trail on your GPS) and you find the reef. In my case, I passed on the other side of it, and freaked out as I passed it. Slowed down and turned around to see what that was - I Looked down at my GPS, zoomed in, and saw I passed on both sides of it - and was clipping along the middle at 45 mph ...... omg ..... I definitely slowed down the rest of the trip.

At 45mph - hitting a rock face only 6" below the surface - Your boat is destroyed, you are likely seriously injured, and on some of these lakes (Reindeer in Particular) you might be 100 nautical miles from civilization and haven't seen a boat pass in 3 days.

If you are able to swim, and not to badly injured, your swim could be a km, and when you get there, there is nothing but wilderness. Closest cabin might be 100kms in a straight line and with hundreds of islands and a long shoreline - you are not walking back anywhere without getting lost.

That's real danger.

[Tcon]

This may only be rumour but I have heard that Lac Ste Anne has springs as well. Years ago, I heard of trucks going through when the ice is plentiful on the remainder of the lake.

Another post said that there are springs "if you were to travel from the rock island directly over to the narrows"

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showp...6&postcount=14

[Bhflyfisher]

Originally Posted by EZM

Many lakes have hazards out here - but - I have to say, until I did some trips on big desolate lakes in the Canadian Shield ..... I thought I knew about dangerous lakes and reefs.

Reindeer and Athapapaskew both had hard rock cliffs - in some cases only inches below the water - with hundreds of yards to the nearest shoreline. In many cases these outcrops are right in the middle of an island and the shoreline a mile apart and it goes from deep water (in some cases over 100 feet) to 6 inches of water - straight freaking down like you are standing on the top of a building.

Some of these crazy outcrops are marked and mapped, but many (or most) are not. You gotta know where you are going and you need a guide.

Some of these cliffs and reefs are only as big as your living room - and you may have passed the area at full speed only 20 feet away - and, you would be fine and never know how bad it could have been. Like in my case. Then, on the way back, your path is only 20 feet over (following your trail on your GPS) and you find the reef. In my case, I passed on the other side of it, and freaked out as I passed it. Slowed down and turned around to see what that was - I Looked down at my GPS, zoomed in, and saw I passed on both sides of it - and was clipping along the middle at 45 mph ...... omg ..... I definitely slowed down the rest of the trip.

At 45mph - hitting a rock face only 6" below the surface - Your boat is destroyed, you are likely seriously injured, and on some of these lakes (Reindeer in Particular) you might be 100 nautical miles from civilization and haven't seen a boat pass in 3 days.

If you are able to swim, and not to badly injured, your swim could be a km, and when you get there, there is nothing but wilderness. Closest cabin might be 100kms in a straight line and with hundreds of islands and a long shoreline - you are not walking back anywhere without getting lost.

That's real danger.

I've witnessed first hand, though I part of a recovery party, a guide hitting a reef in the shield. He knew about it, but was complacent, wasn't wearing his rip cord, typical travel route. Destroyed the motor. Guests weren't sitting properly in the boat or wearing life jackets. One guest didn't make it out.

There are serious dangers with tearing around on not only shield lakes, but every lake. Use common sense, and wear a freaking life jacket, it can happen to anyone, no matter the experience level.

[linger]

yes lac-st anne has at least 3 springs that im aware of and the rock ridge. be careful out there.

[super mario]

Originally Posted by Ken07AOVette

Cold Lake both summer and winter.

Being 20 miles across, a quick wind can whip up some amazing waves.

In winter the pressure cracks quite often happen overnight and snow blows in filling the crack, bad news and a day ender.

x2

[EZM]

Devil's Lake (by Onoway) is definitely an eye opener.

Drove out in the tracks of another vehicle in our party who was ahead of me and parked a short distance back.

Set up the tent, drilled some holes and started fishing. There was plenty of ice - like 20" or more (can't recall exactly - but there was lots of good, solid, clear ice).

Later in the afternoon, went to drill a few more holes for some tip ups and stuff, punched the first, a second hole another 15 feet away or so, again, in lots of ice, then started punching a third, about another 15 feet and the auger went through easy to reveal only 5"-6" of ice !!!!

Crazy.

I heard that a few lives were lost out there. Since then, I have not been back, and if I do, I'm walking out.

[Willowtrail]

Lac Ste Anne can be very dangerous.
Winter, There are springs for sure, not a myth. All different parts of the main lake and West Cove. Also seems to have an ice heave every year.

Summer, There are more than 1 rock ridge as you are all referring to.
There's one from shore to the weed bed in Sunset Point and then from the weeds all the way to the Island, also lots of rocks around the island. Then there is another chain then a gap then a pile north of rock island. It comes of the point where the Church Camp is. Both run East/West
Then there is another on the south side of the lake between Val Quentin and the Mission, runs from the south shore and out into the lake straight North.

Ross Haven is a very Rocky area for a long ways out from shore.

Last time I looked there was a map at the main launch in Alberta Beach showing all of this. They are NOT on Navionics but some can be seen from google earth

[JonnyBoy0919]

Sylvan has thin ice usually near the Marina Bay area; seems every couple years someone falls through there

[410]

Great idea for a topic! Keep this one going!
I've been on most of the lakes mentioned. And ya you guys are pretty accurate.

[pikeman06]

Elinor lake scared the bejesus out of us with crazy floodwater if there was lots of snow and spots with 6 inches of ice over 20 ft of water while it was February. Drill a hole by the truck and the water would be a 4 ft high fountain. Many years ago but definitely stands out in the memory. We were fearless, no cell phones, coldest days of the year, carburator issues but man did we get the hawgs.

[Red Bullets]

As far as ice for ice fishing ....Battle lake west of Pigeon lake has a dozen springs flowing into it.

There are 7 springs along the north shore and 5 on the south side not counting battle creek flowing into the west end and the start of the Battle river on the east end. This second map at the bottom of the webpage shows them good.

http://albertalakes.ualberta.ca/?pag...gion=3&lake=89

Heart lake north of Lac La Biche has fluctuating ice thicknesses in different areas too.

Boating I would add Abraham lake too. Dangerous winds, deadheads and rocks.

[FlounderPounder]

At Lac la Biche there is an island straight north of the Sir Winston Churchill boat launch. Between that and the east shore is very shallow. Got lucky out running a storm one time. Went back next day to try fishing there and got a surprise

[Tcon]

Originally Posted by Red Bullets

As far as ice for ice fishing ....Battle lake west of Pigeon lake has a dozen springs flowing into it.

There are 7 springs along the north shore and 5 on the south side not counting battle creek flowing into the west end and the start of the Battle river on the east end. This second map at the bottom of the webpage shows them good.

http://albertalakes.ualberta.ca/?pag...gion=3&lake=89

Heart lake north of Lac La Biche has fluctuating ice thicknesses in different areas too.

Boating I would add Abraham lake too. Dangerous winds, deadheads and rocks.

Wow, great resource on battle lake, very much appreciated!

[bighorn1]

Abraham lake has to be one of the nastiest, flowing water underneath and very deep, i am surprised that anyone ever ventures to drive on it.

[FlyTheory]

Originally Posted by bighorn1

Abraham lake has to be one of the nastiest, flowing water underneath and very deep, i am surprised that anyone ever ventures to drive on it.

YES. Arguably the MOST dangerous lake in Alberta summer and winter. Summer = wind, current, cold, deep, undercurrent and reefs. Winter = all of the above plus thin spots (methane bubbles as well). But I bet there are some MONSTERS in there though.

[walleye guy]

Beaver lake at Lac La Biche lots of rocks many boats lose their bottom ends every summer.

[ATF]

Several of them from what I've heard.
A number of years back we hit one while driving where the ice was only a couple inches thick and it was about 3-4 feet across. We were going fast enough that our momentum carried us across the hole and we only caught the edge of it but clean shorts were needed all around.
I drilled a few holes and there was 2 feet of good ice around the hole.
We ended up throwing a few logs in front of it in case anyone decided to follow our tracks out so they would tear off a wheel.

[muzzy]

Wabamun on south west side at RR55 when you hit the lake do not go left (west) as there is a spring about 350 yds out off the small point.Ice is always thin there and a vehicle usually goes thru every couple years. Straight out or to right is fine

[FISHBATTEREDBEER]

Originally Posted by muzzy

Wabamun on south west side at RR55 when you hit the lake do not go left (west) as there is a spring about 350 yds out off the small point.Ice is always thin there and a vehicle usually goes thru every couple years. Straight out or to right is fine

yup,seen a truck go in there last yr,there is a small creek there too.There was a ton of ice elsewhere at the time.

[WayneChristie]

Originally Posted by dutchpirate

Summertime gust fronts can whip Newell up something fierce. One summer I was struggling in 6' waves to load my sailboat on it's trailer.

Ive driven along the dam on the east side and had waves hitting my truck. Ive had my canoe on the lake a few times but thats a very rare event with the winds around here. theres also a shallow rock shoal that runs way out into the lake extending off the point

[gopher67]

Carson lake at the narrows if you look at chip lake the lobstick river runs through it