Waskesiu Lake () is a lake located roughly in the centre of
Prince Albert National Park
Prince Albert National Park encompasses in central Saskatchewan, Canada and is about north of Saskatoon. Though declared a National parks of Canada, national park March 24, 1927, official opening ceremonies weren't performed by Prime Ministe ...
. The lake's name means ''red deer'' or ''
elk
The elk (: ''elk'' or ''elks''; ''Cervus canadensis'') or wapiti, is the second largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. ...
'' in the
Cree language
Cree ( ; also known as Cree–Montagnais language, Montagnais–Naskapi language, Naskapi) is a dialect continuum of Algonquian languages spoken by approximately 86,475 people across Canada in 2021, from the Northwest Territories to Alberta to ...
, which it was at least once recorded as in 1912. Waskesiu Lake is by far the most developed lake in the park, and features a variety of recreational facilities along all sides of its shoreline, including camping, golfing, boating, and hiking. The resort village of
Waskesiu Lake is on its eastern shore. The Prince Albert National Park Nature Centre is located in the village as well as many other amenities such as lodging, police, a gas station, shopping, and restaurants. Access to the lake is from
Highways 263 and
264
__NOTOC__
Year 264 (Roman numerals, CCLXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gallienus and Saturninus (or, less frequently, year 1017 ''Ab urbe condita''). The ...
.
Description
Waskesiu Lake sits north-east of the
Waskesiu Hills
Waskesiu Upland is a hilly plateau in the central region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. ''Waskesiu'' means ''red deer'' or ''elk'' in the Cree language. The plateau is just south-west of the geog ...
and is in the
Churchill River drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...
. The south flowing rivers out of the Waskesiu Hills, including
Spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...
and
Spruce Rivers, flow into the
North Saskatchewan River
The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows from the Canadian Rockies continental divide east to central Saskatchewan, where it joins with the South Saskatchewan River to make up the Saskatchewan River. Its water flows event ...
and the ones flowing north out of the hills flow into the Waskesiu Lake catchment. Some of these rivers include Deadwood Creek, Beetle Creek, Moose Creek, and Beartrap Creek. Prince Albert National Park's third largest lake,
Kingsmere Lake
Kingsmere Lake is a lake surrounded by boreal forest in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. At in size and over deep, it is a large lake in the Waskesiu Upland of central Saskatchewan. Several creeks and rivers feed the lake from the surro ...
, connects to Waskasiu Lake at its northern end via Kingsmere River. The
Waskesiu River, located at the east end of the lake, is the outflow and it heads north-east to
Montreal Lake.
Waskesiu Lake has one island off its western shore known as
King Island (formerly Devil's Island). It is named after park founder and Canada's 10th
prime minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
,
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who was the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Liberal ...
.
Recreation
Being the recreational centre of Prince Albert National Park, there are a wide variety of activities in and around the lake, including camping at Beaver Glen, Narrows, and Red Deer Campgrounds. At the village of Waskesiu, there are resorts and cabins such as Baker's Bungalows and Lost Creek Resort Waskesiu Golf Course is located on the south side of the village. Several trails begin at the lake, including one that leads to
Grey Owl
Archibald Stansfeld Belaney (September 18, 1888April 13, 1938), commonly known as Grey Owl, was an English-Canadian popular writer, public speaker and conservationist. Born an Englishman, in the latter years of his life he passed as half-Indi ...
's cabin at
Ajawaan Lake
Ajawaan Lake is a lake in the northern boreal forest portion of Prince Albert National Park in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, from the north end of Kingsmere Lake via a wide portage trail. It is known mainly as the home of Grey Owl, f ...
. Several beaches also are scattered around the lake including, Birch Bay Beach, Trippes Beach, Paignton Beach, Narrows Beach, and Waskesiu Main Beach.
Fish species
Fish commonly found in Waskesiu Lake include
walleye
The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the walleyed pike, yellow pike, yellow pikeperch or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern ...
,
northern pike
The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). T ...
,
yellow perch
The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samuel Latham Mitchill fr ...
, and
cisco
Cisco Systems, Inc. (using the trademark Cisco) is an American multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, s ...
.
See also
*
List of lakes of Saskatchewan
This is a list of lakes of Saskatchewan, a province of Canada. The largest and most notable lakes are listed at the start, followed by an alphabetical listing of other lakes of the province.
Larger lake statistics
"The total area of a lake ...
*
List of place names in Canada of Indigenous origin
This list of place names in Canada of Indigenous origin contains Canadian places whose names originate from the words of the First Nations, Métis, or Inuit, collectively referred to as Indigenous Peoples. When possible, the original word or phr ...
*
Tourism in Saskatchewan
There are numerous heritages and cultural attractions in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Museums, dinosaur digs, aboriginal cultural and heritage sites, art galleries, professional sport venues, spas, handcraft, antique and tea shops, ...
References
External links
{{Authority control
Lakes of Saskatchewan
Prince Albert National Park