Lakeland Canoe Circuit

Lakeland Provincial Park, located east of Lac La Biche is home to Alberta's only canoe circuit. There are several ways you can explore these lakes, we chose to do the 38km circuit over 4 days and 3 nights. This is an awesome backcountry spot, the camping sites are free of charge, and there are only 1-3 sites on each island, so you really feel like you have the lakes to yourself.

Day 1

3km portage from staging area to Jackson Lake --- 2 hour paddle from Jackson to Kinnaird Lake

We drove south from Fort McMurray to Lac La Biche where we picked up our canoe rental from Lakeland Expeditions. The owner runs it from his acreage outside of Lac La Biche, is super friendly, and also rents out ice fishing shacks in the winter if you have interest to return. You need to be able to transport the canoe on your vehicle to the staging area, Lakeland Expeditions supplies you with pool noodles you can use to protect your roof. We brought our own straps to secure the canoe on our roof, and we were able to do it on our own.

The drive to the Jackson Lake staging area where the circuit begins was another 40 minutes or so from Lac La Biche down some gravel roads.

The circuit begins with a 3km portage to Jackson Lake. The good news is there are carts that you can use to portage your canoe and gear, which makes things easier. The bad news is there are only about 12 carts, so if you are arriving on a busy day, someone will have to walk to Jackson Lake to bring one back. We were in luck, and there were several carts at the beginning of the trail.

Loading up the canoe

We had quite a lot of gear, so the portage to Jackson Lake took about 45 minutes. We didn't use anything to secure our canoe to the cart, but we did see another family who had some type of strap. Definitely something to look into, because we found the canoe slipped back and forth a lot, so we were constantly readjusting.

You know you’re close once you have arrived at this dock. Water shoes are a good idea, as these are floating docks and do sink quite a lot, and you will find them on each of the portages throughout the circuit.

Channel onto Jackson Lake

The channel to Jackson lake was calm, stick to the left after the channel, and head towards the Isthmus Bridge. I wasn't able to take a photo fo the bridge, because once we got onto Jackson, the wind was wild across the open water, creating white caps. We stuck close to shore and power paddled onto Kinnaird Lake. Once we made it under the bridge, we were back on calm water.

About 2 hours of paddling later, we set up camp on Kinnaird Island. We first docked our canoe at the side of the island we had approached to scout out the island. After looking around, we decided the campsite on the opposite side of the island was nicer, so we paddled around the back of the island and pulled up on the sandy shore. We ended up having the island all to ourselves, in fact we didn't see any other canoeists the whole trip except on our way back the last day. The sites are very nicely spaced apart on opposite sides of the small island, so you will still easily feel alone even if the other site happens to be occupied. We had tons of space, and were able to store our food safely on the bear pole provided.

Tent setup on Kinnaird Lake

This site was heavily used, and unfortunately with some garbage from previous travellers left behind. We picked up some of the trash, the golden rule of thumb is to try to leave the space cleaner than you left it! We had time for a swim, it was an incredible evening with a beautiful sunset.

Kinnaird Lake Campsite

Day 2

4 hour paddle from Kinnaird to Blackett Lake

You have two options to get from Kinnaird Lake to Blackett Lake.

Option 1 is a short paddle and a 0.6km portage, option 2 is a longer paddle all the way down the channel that connects the two lakes. We opted to take the longer paddle route and skip the short portage. This added about 2 hours to our day, but we wanted to be out on the lake. Total paddle time from Kinnaird to Blackett Lake was about 4 hours.

One thing to note if you are with small kids, we couldn't find a great place to pull in and stop for lunch. We just docked in some marsh, but we weren't able to actually get out of the canoe for our break.

Taking the long way to Blackett also gives you access to several campsites on the lake. We chose one of the islands that had a single site on it to set up camp. This site was a lot cleaner than the last one, which was really nice. We had a fire, did some sunset paddling, and fell asleep to the loons.

Blackett Lake campsite

Day 3

1 hour paddle---1.6km portage from Blackett to McGuffin Lake--- 1 hour paddle---600m portage from McGuffin to Jackson Lake---1 hour paddle---camp Jackson Peninsula

This was a beast of a day, but we had so much fun! When we arrived to the 1.6km portage on Blackett to get to McGuffin, we were unlucky to find all of the carts were on the other end of the trail. Cam went to retrieve a cart for us, along with a spare for the next people to use. Although this portage is shorter than the first one from the staging area to Jackson Lake, it was super mucky, and quite hilly. I was 28 weeks pregnant at the time, and found this to be an absolute grind with the cart wheels getting stuck. Some of the bad parts did have wood laid down, but the cart wheels can easily wedge in between the panels as well and get stuck all the same.

Portage from Blackett to McGuffin

The paddle across McGuffin was a welcomed break, and took about 1 hour to get to our next portage.

Another unlucky portage, this time, there were no carts to be found on either end! Luckily this was the shortest portage at only 600m. Because of the way we packed, thinking we would have cart access for each portage, we had to make several trips back and forth to get all the gear to the other end. I think the hardest part was the canoe, these canoes are not the super super lightweight type that would be used for long overheard portages. But we made it, just as a storm was rolling in.

Dock on Jackson Lake after 600m portage

It rained hard for about 20 minutes, and the day cleared right up for a beautiful paddle on Jackson Lake (no crazy wind this time around!)

After about an hour of paddling, we set up camp on Jackson Peninsula to enjoy our last night. This island has a single site, a picnic table, and bear poles for your food.

Jackson Peninsula campsite

Day 4

3 hour paddle---3km portage back to staging area

On our last day, we had a nice sleep in before heading back out onto the lake for our final paddle.

It took about 3 hours to get back to beginning of Jackson Lake. After a lunch break, we made the final 3km portage back to the staging area. We were returning on a Saturday, so all of the carts were on our end, and we passed several people coming to get one so they could begin their journey.

Jackson Peninsula campsite

General Information

• there is little to no service on this circuit, be prepared with a first aid kit and a satellite phone in case of emergency

• bring a map of the lakes, including where the islands you will find the campsites on are located

You can pick up a map from the Lac La Biche office at:

Lakeland Provincial Park and Provincial Recreation Area Box 1019 Lac La Biche, AB T0A 2C0 Phone: (780) 623–5235

• what you pack in, you have to pack out, so try to pick and pack foods in a way you will have the least disposable garbage

• there are backcountry composting toilets on each of the islands with campsites, always use this area to do your business to minimize bear attraction

• store your food using the bear poles or bear lockers provided at each site, never leave anything laying out or in your tent including food, toothpaste, sunscreen or other scented products

• there are fire pits and picnic tables provided at each site

• check for fire bans, and always pour water over your fires to ensure they are out

• pets are allowed on this backcountry circuit

• you cannot reserve campsites, they are on a first come first served basis, and are free to use