Camping at Kinbrook Island Provincial Park

For those who know the area, Kinbrook Island is just South of Brooks, Alberta.  It is a bout a two and a half hour drive from Raymond and this was the first time we had camped in a Provincial Park.

First of all let me explain how the system works with these parks, some of them you can pre-book (not sure about Kinbrook) but usually you just turn up and find a spot to park.  All the sites are clearly marked and numbered so once you have found your ideal spot you go to a Central self-registration point, put your money int the envelope provided, tear off the slip to put on the marker post at your site, and post the envelope in the slot... also provided.  It was $26 per night and that was for electricity only, there was no water or sewer, however, there were central watering points and an on-site dump station near the exit so you could pump out on leaving the park.

The Park it self is on an Island that sticks out into Lake Newell which is the largest man made reservoir in the area, and incidental stocked with fish, I'm not a fisherman but I'm sure if you Google it you will see what sort of fish are in there.  There is also boating there and there seems to be a yacht club.

While we were there the lake was frozen over but was just beginning to thaw, the waves on the lake had pushed all the ice to the shore nearest us and you could see the weird and wonderful formations that it created along the shoreline.

We took Gizmo on this trip and we were so glad we did.  He his starting to show his age a little bit now and he has a little arthritis in his back legs.  We spent most of the time taking him for short walks and letting him dive into the water and ice.  As you can imagine, he is still a young pup at heart so by the end of the day he was completely shattered and sore.  By the time it was time to fire up the campfire all he wanted to do was to find a warm spot, curl up and go to sleep.... that is until the BBQ came out, then he was right up close to the fire looking for treats.

I really liked the evenings at this campground, as it started to get dark and the fires started springing up all round the woods you could hear all the different kinds of music, conversations, singing and generally people spending quality time with friends and family.

Kinbrook is quite a large park and well worth a visit if you are camping in the area.