Kayaking on Ghost Lake just West of Calgary 2022

What lakes are near calgary?

Ghost lake is a fantastic recreation area for water sports and is located only a short 30 minute drive West of Calgary. To find the Ghost Lake Recreation area just head out of the City towards and into the town of Cochrane (on the same highway that takes you to Canmore and Banff), then from Cochrane take the Highway 1A for another 5 minute further up the Bow River, it’s not a long drive and you won’t burn too much expensive gasoline getting there..

Where can I sail near Calgary?

Ghost lake attracts a lot of sail boats because it tends to have a bit of a mountain breeze quite often. Also, unlike the lakes near Banff it does not have a ban on motorized boats. The boat launch area is full of a wide variety of both sail and power boats and you will see dozens of non-motorized canoe and kayak users all around the perimeter of the reservoir. There seems to always be a slight breeze there just due to the geography so it’s a sailors dream location.

Best Kayak and Canoe lakes

By the number of kayaks, canoe, stand up paddle boards, and jetski users on the lake, it appears to be one of the most popular lakes near Calgary for personal water sports. The day we were there we observed about 30 people besides ourselves paddling the North part of Ghost lake. There were many families who were out making the most of the great weather by participating in one of the best family activities in Calgary.

Even with that number of boaters the lake was still not overly crowded and you could find yourself a quiet spot with nobody else around you. We spent the afternoon paddling around the perimeter of the lake in our Intex inflatable kayaks.

Are Intex Inflatable Kayaks good?

We own 2 different models of Intex Inflatable Kayaks, our first one is an Intex Explorer K2 and our more recent one is an Intex Excursion Pro2. There is also a cheaper Intex Dakota k2 available but we thought it was a little too cheap of a product to stand up to the lakes and rivers we wanted to boat on so we never purchased that entry level inflatable boat.

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The Intex explorer k2 is a designed as a 2 seater boat with a weight limit of 400 lbs. It is reasonable durable inflates easily, and is rugged enough to get a few years of use out of. The most likely first thing you will wreck on the Intex Explorer k2 and need to repair is the inflatable bottom of the boat, which will happen from scraping sharp rocks or branches while boating. Other than that, this is my recommendation for the most affordable option for a good inflatable kayak ~ the Intex Explorer k2.

The Intex Excursion pro 2 is similar to the Explorer k2 in appearance but has a few upgrades. Firstly, the Excursion k2 is slightly longer and wider than the Explorer k2. It is also made of slightly more durable material and will definitely take a little more use and abuse before getting a leak. Also the maximum weight limit of the Excursion is 450lbs, which might make a difference for some buyers.

Intex Excursion pro2 vs Intex Explorer k2, which is better?

Our Explorer k2 is pretty much a $300 kayak, while the Excursion pro2 is usually about $500. You will find the extra room, heavier material, and greater capacity to be nice differences, you just need to decide if they are worth an extra 60%. We like them both and highly recommend them both depending on your budget.

Here is a recent Pic of an Intex kayak on Lake Louise. We went after 7pm when the canoe rental had closed and we had the entire lake to ourselves, when does that ever happen?

Paddling the ghostly evening waters of Lake Louise in our Intex Inflatable kayak