Elk Island National Park
One thing that I am learning through the COVID-19 pandemic is to appreciate what is in my own backyard. Whether that is taken meaning, in my own nation, province or literally the area behind my house.
Today, I had a first. It was my first time going into and exploring Elk Island National Park. Typically for me, the joy of going to one of Canada's National Parks is to experience the mountains, but since this park was a heck of a lot closer than the 4 hour drive to Jasper (approximately 90 minutes from Westlock instead), and I got my sister and one of my niece's onboard, we did it!
Elk Island is a nature conservation where Bison, literally roam free. Just that in itself is pretty dang cool. There are some small hills in the terrain, at least the small 3km trail we hiked on, and a whole bunch of lakes, with beaver lodges dotting them throughout.
The great things about Elk Island- lots of trees and greenery, I bet it would be gorgeous to explore in the Fall months. We spotted a whole herd of frogs! We counted six hopping around together. Maps handed out at the front gate were relatively easy to read and the rangers were helpful to which trails would be best to trek on (ones that weren't completely boggy). Public restrooms were open at the front gate to use, I think there were 8 in total.
Cons- because of the current situation a number of roads were closed off for the public to use, limiting what trails could be accessed, thus increasing the traffic to certain parking lots, so it was pretty crowded.
Would I go back? In a heartbeat.
Comments
Post a Comment