Alberta Land Rover Enthusiasts Conklin Road Recon Trip

Started by lropchan, August 02, 2019, 06:34 PM

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lropchan

Beaver Lake campground to Conklin Corner.



The weekend started out nice with a leisurely drive up to Lac La Biche. The original plan was to camp at the campground in Sir Winston Churchill Provincial Park on the lake. However, it was full, and the parks people recommended the Beaver Lake Provincial Park campground to Curtis and Nicole, who arrived earlier. It turned to be a nice campground and the lake was swimmable, which the kids appreciated. The campground had a sign that there was a bear in the area and as we parked and noticed the Saskatoon bush full of berries we knew why.

Saturday started dry and remained that way for the duration of the drive, only starting to rain when we arrived in Conklin Corner. While the first 100Km was basically a gravel road, it turned into more of an adventure when we crossed into the RMWB (Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo), where the road became one mud hole after another.  No problem for the Land Rovers, just drop in the 4 low and it was all good. Along the way we checkout a couple of areas along the trail as possible excursions for the future.

The rain continued through Saturday night, but [thankfully] stopped in time to pack camp (I hate packing camp in the rain). After a nice leisurely breakfast in Lac La Biche we went our separate ways with Curtis, Nicole and family heading one direction and Bill, Toze, and me heading back the way we came.

Sunday turned out be a nice day and as we drove back and crossed the North Saskatchewan, I asked if we were near the Victoria Trail that Emad had talked about. We pull off the highway, check the Backroads map book, and sure enough we are. So, time for an impromptu detour and off we go down the Victoria Trail. Unfortunately we were west of the settlement and did not get there, but that's something for next time. Another nice drive on a combination of gravel and asphalt.

All in all a very nice weekend.

Photo credit for some photos - Erin.
Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/GoW5uAMPHMHv7hgk9

binch

Yup, me thinks we have an excellent area for some family outings.  Complete with land rovers, Wildlife, canoeing, fishing, sandy beaches...the whole 9 yards!!!     Will have to organize an outing for the club before the snows fly ;-)

An excellent reccee trip ;D
Cheers, Bill

Matt H

No Road Except For Land-Rover.

binch

Yup, it worked out very nicely indeed.   We saw at least 10 black bears over Saturday as we drove up the secluded Conklin road.    Many were cubs and we caught one of them in time to see it scamper up a tree and turn down again and run off into the bush again.   Saw a couple of gray geese fly past but no idea what kind they were.   Saw some pelicans, common in the Lac La Biche area.   There were a few deer too...but no moose.  Lots of signs (with bullet holes in them) of Caribor too.

We had a blast in the muddier sections of the Conklin road, at the north end and found  quite a few off trails from the road.  One led off to a potential exist, east to 881 but that will need to be explored when there is more time and bodies.    We found a very nice sandy causeway between two lakes to looked brilliant as a camp site and canoe area...maybe fish too!

A great deal of potential up in this area with options for accommodation ranging from random & organized campsites right up to B&B's, hotels, motels and eateries too.   No Timmies though LOL

Yup, I think I'm going to head back up there again soon  ;)
Cheers, Bill

B-Red

Looks like a great outing. Nice pictures too. There are lots of grounds to cover. You can go for a walk about for days and weeks up there. As long as you have fuel lol.