Cold Lake is a large

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

in Central Alberta and Northern

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

, Canada. The lake straddles the Alberta / Saskatchewan border, and has a water area of . It is also one of the deepest lakes in Alberta with a maximum depth of . It has around 24 known species of fish in it and is a major ice fishing lake. It is also major stop for many migrating birds, and is home to one of the largest

warbler Various Passeriformes (perching birds) are commonly referred to as warblers. They are not necessarily closely related to one another, but share some characteristics, such as being fairly small, vocal, and insectivorous. Sylvioid warblers Th ...

populations in Alberta. A surface of lies in the province of

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. The city of Cold Lake is located on the shore. Excepting the western shore, the lake is surrounded by protected areas such as the Cold Lake Provincial Park in Alberta and the

Meadow Lake Provincial Park Meadow Lake Provincial Park is a northern boreal forest provincial recreational park along the Waterhen and Cold Rivers in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The park was founded on 10 March 1959, is the largest provincial park in Sask ...

in Saskatchewan. The Cold Lake 149 A and B

Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve (french: réserve indienne) is specified by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." Ind ...

s of the

Cold Lake First Nations The Cold Lake First Nations is a First Nations band government. This band is the governing body for people descended from several different historic groups, hence the plural, ''nations'', used in the band's name. In August 2019, there were 2,960 ...

are established on the western and southern shores respectively. Cold Lake House was a trading post built by the Montreal traders in 1781 near present day

Beaver Crossing, Alberta Beaver Crossing is a hamlet in central Alberta, Canada within the Municipal District of Bonnyville No. 87, located on Highway 28 where it crosses the Beaver River, approximately south of Cold Lake. Near here was Cold Lake House built by t ...

, south of Cold Lake. The

Martineau River Martineau River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta. Its source is at Primrose Lake in north-western Saskatchewan and its mouth is at Cold Lake in Alberta. The river travels in a south-westerly direction through ...

flows from

Primrose Lake Primrose Lake is a large lake in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta in the Churchill River drainage basin. The lake straddles the Saskatchewan / Alberta border, with most of the water surface in Saskatchewan with only the sou ...

into Cold Lake, which in turn discharges through the Cold River. The Cold River travels through a series of lakes in

and ends as it empties into Lac des Îles. The Waterhen River, which is a major tributary of Beaver River, is the primary outflow for Lac des Îles and it continues east where it meets Beaver River, a major tributary of the Churchill River. The lake has a native legend of a large lake monster kinosoo, of which many residents claimed to see evidence or sightings of. Although some sources claim it has 91m max depth, sonar scans of certain areas of the lake have yielded depths of over 600 feet, and evidence of glacial ice under the lake, would yield an even greater depth if one wanted to count it as water depth as well.

Fish species

Fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

species include

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relat ...

, sauger,

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch, American river perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samu ...

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus '' Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are known simply as a ...

, lake trout, lake whitefish,

cisco Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, ...

burbot The burbot (''Lota lota'') is the only gadiform (cod-like) freshwater fish Freshwater fish are those that spend some or all of their lives in fresh water, such as rivers and lakes, with a salinity of less than 1.05%. These environments di ...

white sucker The white sucker (''Catostomus commersonii)'' is a species of freshwater cypriniform fish inhabiting the upper Midwest and Northeast in North America, but it is also found as far south as Georgia and as far west as New Mexico. The fish is commonl ...

, and

longnose sucker The longnose sucker (''Catostomus catostomus'') is a species of cypriniform freshwater fish in the family Catostomidae. It is native to North America from the northern United States to the top of the continent. It is also found in Russia in rive ...

. Both Alberta and Saskatchewan angling licences are valid on the entire lake.

References

External links

{{authority control Beaver River No. 622, Saskatchewan Municipal District of Bonnyville No. 87 Lakes of Alberta Lakes of Saskatchewan Borders of Alberta Borders of Saskatchewan North West Company forts Division No. 17, Saskatchewan

Fish species

See also

References

External links