Answers:
• What are your hours?
During our operating season (the first Friday in May to the second Sunday in September):
Our GATE hours are 7 am to 11 pm.
Our OFFICE hours are 9 am to 9 pm.
If you need to register for camping between 9 pm and 11 pm, call ahead to make arrangements.
If you come in for day-use between 7 am and 9 am, please come back to the office at 9 am to register. Remember to bring your license plate number for your parking tag.
Our off-season hours are variable. Once we start taking bookings, which is usually the end of March, we will post our days and hours for the booking desk on the Contact Us page, on the voicemail and Facebook.
In 2012 we are opening our booking desk at 2 pm on March 22. A full list of days, times and categories is on the Contact Us page and on our Facebook page.
Back to Top
• Tell me about the lake.
The lake is a typical prairie lake, it is shallow with a sandy bottom, it warms up quickly, surface algae comes and goes in the hot summer months.
In the summer we do get some well-defined weed patches, which is actually good for fishing as they provide shade.
We do NOT have swimmer's itch.
We have heard of only a few leeches, and that was a few summers ago now.
The average depth of the lake is 5'-8' with holes down to 22' or so.
The biggest fish that we heard of in the last few years was an 81 cm pike that yielded about 9 or so pounds of meat!
You can find out more about the fish by looking at the Fishing question on this page.
Back to Top
• How does your boat launch work?
To use the boat launch when you are not a camper you will need to buy a day-use pass (prices are under a separate page called DAY USE PRICES).
It is a shallow launch into a shallow lake. It is concrete, there is no point backing your vehicle off of the launch though as it is a sandy bottomed lake, it does not get deeper for quite a ways and you will likely get stuck. Tow trucks to get your vehicle out of the lake are expensive.
Most years, shallow-hulled craft up to 16 feet get in. Deep V hulls generally do not launch well here. It helps if you have a tilt trailer or roller wheels with larger boats.
Most of the boats are used for fishing but some smaller ski boats are getting in, especially if they have an outboard engine, not an inboard.
We do not bring in heavy equipment to dig out a launching trough as the sand just settles back in. When we tried it many years ago, we dug a 4 foot wide trench, 8 feet long and it silted back in within 48 hours.
Back to Top
• Can I sea-doo here?
You can, but being a shallow lake, don't be surprised to see children out further than you may expect. Please go a long ways from shore before powering up and well away from the park.
Please do not go fast near any shorelines as your wake can damage bird nests.
Look at the questions on boat launching and the lake for more information.
Back to Top
• What kind of fish are in the lake and how many can I keep?
We have walleye, pike and perch. And you can keep some of the walleye from this lake too!
These regulations are for our fishing area, Prairie Parkland 1.
http://www.albertaregulations.ca/fishingregs/
Eagle Lake is open for fishing May 8 to March 15.
May 8 to Mar. 15 – Walleye limit 3 over 50 cm; Pike limit 3 over 63 cm; Perch limit 15; Burbot limit 10.
Mar. 16 to May 7 – Fishing Season CLOSED
Please note the park is closed from mid-September to the beginning of May each year.
There is NO access while we are closed.
Back to Top
• When can I book?
Group, monthly and weekly bookings will be accepted starting Thursday, March 22 at 2 pm.
Shorter term bookings (less than a week long) will be accepted starting at 2 pm on Friday March 30. Watch our Facebook page or look on the Contact Us page for exact days and times.
Please do not leave messages or send emails requesting a booking before these dates and times as we cannot acknowledge them. In fairness to the people who have waited until the designated dates and times we cannot take earlier requests.
Once the park is open on Friday May 4, bookings can be made in person or over the phone between 9 am and 9 pm 7 days a week, until we close Sept. 9.
Back to Top
• Are any of your sites on the beach?
None of our sites are right on the beach per se, but none are more than a couple of minutes walk away either. We have left the beach area available for all to enjoy, rather than a select few.
Back to Top
• Why do you charge a day-use fee?
Day-use fees help cover the cost of having people here at the park. There is wear and tear on the roads, play areas, and other common facilities. The toilets need cleaned and pumped out whether you are here for the day or overnight. We maintain the beach and have a dedicated day-use area with picnic tables and firepits right by the beach.
You are welcome to join in any campground-wide activities such as the feeding programs, hayrides or special events at no extra charge.
It is your choice if you want to use these extras or not, but we make them available.
There is a windsurfing rigging up area that has as few obstacles as possible in it and a ramp into the lake. Kitesurfers can use this area too.
Many of our windlovers have asked why they have to pay something when there is nothing there. The ironic thing is that nothing costs something, by keeping it as open as possible there is room to spread out sails and lines and for the wind to blow freely. We would actually make more money by developing the area, say by adding premium seasonal sites, but then it wouldn't be as good for windsports.
Back to Top
• Why do you charge visitors to campers?
Visitors pay the day use fee because they have full access to all the things day-users have access to. It is the visitor's choice about whether or not to walk along the beach, use the birdwatching blind, join in the activities that we have that day. Sewer, garbage, maintenance, all cost the resort time and money. Day-users and visitors are charged less than campers because they spend less time here.
If we had free day-use/visitors we would have a great deal of unpaid use by locals and Calgarians. Our camping rates would have to be much higher in order to cover all the costs of having so many people here at no charge.
Occasionally people will stop by just for a “coffee”. Ask us to timestamp your receipt. If you are here for an hour or less visiting a camper then you can bring your receipt back in for a refund. You are welcome to enjoy this opportunity once per day.
Back to Top
• Why don't you ask the government for more money?
We do not get ANY outside funding whatsoever, from any agencies, clubs, governments, foundations etc. None. Zero. Every penny we need to run Eagle Lake RV Resort must be generated by us. We are a completely independent camping facility, run in a business-like way, generating funds to cover expenses. Our goal is to have a beautiful, tranquil park, staffed by happy and well-trained workers.
Back to Top
• Why do I pay a reservation fee? Why do I pay my camping fees up front?
Our reservation system requires specialized software, computers, printers, a building and well-trained staff. All of this takes time and money. We have people working in March so that we can take your reservations and save you the Friday night stress of lining up and hoping for a site. Your reservation could be for August. Charging the fees at the time of booking gives us enough cash flow to bring staff in, train them and have them taking bookings before we even open the gates.
Our reservation staff need guaranteed hours and wages so that they can do their best for you. They need to be trained, usually for two weeks, before they can even start answering the phone, taking bookings, sending out confirmations and prepping each day's arrival information. In the meantime, we have a team of groundskeepers who are getting the park ready. They start two-three weeks before the park is open.
Reservations are not required for you to camp here, but they are recommended as we tend to be very busy.
Back to Top
• When will there be Wi-fi?
As soon as there is a company that can get us enough bandwith in our rural location. We are approached every year by companies that say they can do it, but then they realize that there simply isn't availability in our sparsely populated location.
In our office we run two different internet services concurrently just to make sure that we have enough internet to do what we need to each day. Sorry, we cannot share this with our guests at this time. We wish we could.
In the meantime, many people have found that their phone provider's “airsticks” work well for their needs and most full-timers and crews that we have had stay with us are now self-sufficient in the internet department.
Back to Top
• Why do you use one-ply toilet paper?
Don't laugh-we are asked this on a regular basis! We are on a septic system and the fancy two-ply papers don't break down quickly enough. This can lead to plugged up sewer systems and if you think scratchy toilet paper is inconvenient, wait until the sewer doesn't work!
Back to Top
• Why are there not flush toilets and showers at the beach?
The water table is very high in that area and it is close to the lake so we cannot have a septic field there. Everything must go into a tank then be pumped out and hauled to the city for legal disposal.
Back to Top
• That dog park seems pretty small for my big dog.
The recession finally came to Alberta. Many tourism businesses, including ours, saw a downturn in 2011. This means we had to make choices. We could provide a small dog park or no dog park.
When we can, we will build a bigger one, and the smaller one will remain as a puppy park for shy or tiny dogs.
In the meantime, we thought something was better than nothing.
Back to Top
• I have a question...
Feel free to submit questions you would like to see answered on this page.
Back to Top
|
