AB Provincial Park Beaver Mines Lake In Castle Provincial Park

Yay, we finally got camping this year now that parks have reopened. Our first trip was just a 2-nighter to the Castle Provincial Park in Alberta about 2.5 hrs south of Calgary.

Google map showing Beaver Mines Lake Campground location.

This area is south of Highway 3 that connects Alberta to British Columbia over the continental divide through the Crowsnest Pass. This was our family’s first voyage into this area and wow, just stunning. Driving out on Friday evening there had been some rain in the area and we got to experience the ‘after the rain’ green-coloured fields with the mountains (still with snow in places) rising up beyond.

To the campground itself, we stayed at Beaver Mines Lake Campground comprising 76 unserviced sites across four loops; we stayed in C-46.

Beaver Lake Mines Campground map.

Sites have picnic tables and fire pits with communal vault toilets and there are hand water pumps. Two important notes: there is no firewood for purchase at the campground but we saw the general store in the nearby (15 min drive) hamlet of Beaver Mines (population 100) had a firewood sign, and bring your own water as the water from the hand pumps can be used for putting out campfires, but isn’t tested so should not drink or use with dishes. You leave the sealed highway about 10 mins before the campground, and the campground loops are gravel.


Didn't take a pic of the site so this is an offseason picture from the Alberta Parks website of C-46 taken from end of "driveway"; also now realizing that I don't have trailer/camp set-up either - darn

As you can see from the map Loops B and C are closer to the lake (and have some lakefront sites). We drove B loop and felt that the sites in C were bigger and nicer, but did not investigate A or D loop. Activities... we didn't do too much as our kids (5 + 3) were happy riding their bikes around our loop and splashing in the cold water of the lake as well as practicing their casting; they don’t yet have fishing hooks, but there are stocked fish in the lake and many people were fishing.


Panorama from part of loop C.


View to Table Mountain from campground (yes, I jacked up the HDR - but I think its pretty good for an iPhone 6).


Our 3-yr old "fishing".

There is an interpretative trail in the campground that we will have to check out next time. In the greater area there is more hiking, waterfalls, etc… and it is a 36 min drive to the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre where you can see and learn about the 110 million metric tonnes of rock that slid down Turtle Mountain in the morning of April 29, 1903 partially burying the town of Frank.

Frank Slide... yes that is a mountain, and yes you can see current town on the right side of image (image from Frank Slide)

Weather, being mid-June, is variable… Friday and Saturday were in the low 20s C but Sunday was a high of 12 C overnight lows were in the single digits.

Beaver Mines Lake is very much up there on our favorite campground list and we are heading back in a couple of weeks having reserved a lakefront site. Sites are reservable through Alberta Parks (at the time of writing $26/night with a single $12 reservation fee) on a rolling 90-day in advance booking window.