Barrier Lake is a man-made

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

at the north end of

Kananaskis Country Kananaskis Country (abbreviated: K-Country) is a multi-use area west of Calgary, Alberta, Canada in the Rocky Mountain Foothills, foothills and front ranges of the Canadian Rockies. Its western edge borders Banff National Park and the Alberta-Br ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Highway 40 runs between the lake and Mount Baldy, on the eastern shore. It is entirely located in the Bow Valley Provincial Park. Barrier Lake was created by the former Calgary Power Company, now

TransAlta TransAlta Corporation (formerly Calgary Power Company, Ltd.) is an electricity power generator and wholesale marketing company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is a privately owned corporation and its shares are traded publicly. It o ...

, in 1947, for hydroelectric power generation on the

Kananaskis River The Kananaskis River is a mountain river in western Alberta, Canada. It is a tributary of the Bow River, crossing the length of Kananaskis Country. The river was named by John Palliser in 1858 after a Cree. Course The Kananaskis originates in th ...

. The dam that impounds the lake is at the north end of the lake. The lake is also used for recreational activities, with

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

paths surrounding the lake (and

cross-country skiing trail A cross-country skiing trail or ''loipe''From or ''Langlaufloipe'', pl. –''n'', ''loipe'' is a loanword in English-language travel guides, referring to cross-country ski trails in Europe. It is a Germanization of the Norwegian language, Norwegia ...

s in the winter). A visitor centre is located on the eastern shore.Barrier Lake Visitor Information Centre
- from Alberta Community Development Two day-use areas, Barrier Dam and Barrier Lake, are maintained by Alberta Parks. The Jewell Bay Backcountry Campground is established from the dam.

Water-skiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on one or two skis. The sport requires sufficien ...

is permitted on the lake, but is rarely done due to the low temperatures of the water. Barrier Lake was used in the 2003 film '' X2: X-Men United'' as the stand in for Alkali Lake and in Heartland (CBC) as Eagle Lake (2011).

References

Lakes of Alberta Kananaskis Improvement District Reservoirs in Alberta {{AlbertaRockies-geo-stub

See also

References