Queen Elizabeth Provincial Park, located in a region of Canada called the Peace River Country, is a small lakefront park that gives RV campers and day visitors the chance to escape into nature without having to travel too far from a major city or airport.
The Peace River Country Region is scenic with a landscape that rivals the most beautiful places on earth. The region is known for lakes, rivers, and wetlands surrounded by rolling uplands and mountains covered with white and black spruce trees, lodgepole pine, and paper birch. The boreal landscape is not only scenic, but it is the habitat for animals like the gray wolf, black and brown bears, and moose. People who want a combination of stunning scenery and wildlife-watching opportunities will have no shortage of things to see and do while visiting Queen Elizabeth Provincial Park.
Before planning your trip, be prepared by packing what you need to stay for more than one day because once you set up your camping place for the night, you won’t want to leave. The temperate summer, with an average high of 76 ℉ (24 ℃) juxtaposed with the cooler nights 51℉ (11 ℃) helps to make lake activities comfortable during the day and sleeping with the windows open at night part of the whole Queen Elizabeth Provincial Park experience.
Queen Elizabeth State Park, located in Alberta, Canada, is located just outside the town of Grimshaw. From Edmonton, Alberta, the park is located 318 miles (513 km) northwest, and from Fort McMurray, Alberta, the park is located 436 miles (702 km) southwest.
The park is open from 7:00 am until 11:00 pm daily. Park entry and recreation fees vary. Contact the park for more information.
Please bring cash or a personal check when you come to Queen Elizabeth Provincial Park. This park and campground is a self-registration campground, and credit cards are not an accepted form of payment. Checks should be payable to the Government of Alberta.
The Queen Elizabeth Campground is a pet-friendly, seasonally operating campground. Campers secure spaces by arriving on a first-come, first served basis. The campground offers a mix of non-electric and 15 or 20 amp electrical sites, and there are fire rings and picnic tables provided. The campground has self-pay registration, drinking water, trash bins, vault toilets, firewood sales, and a dump station, and can accommodate larger-sized RVS. To see if your rig will fit in the spaces available, call the campground. The lakeside campground is close to the day use area, the boat launch, and a playground. Alberta provincial parks permit generators but ask that generators run on a limited basis to maintain a natural atmosphere for all campers. The park’s quiet hours are from 11:00 pm until 7:00 am.
Cross Country Skiers looking for ungroomed trails near the town of Grimshaw, Alberta should add Queen Elizabeth Provincial Park to the list of places to ski during the winter. Once the snow is deep enough, there are 2.8 miles (4.5 km) of ungroomed trails that run throughout the park’s forested area. Skiers must have their own equipment and be prepared for weather changes before coming to the park. The facilities remain closed during the winter, but skiers are permitted to use the trails.
If you are a birdwatcher, then you will enjoy searching for your favorite bird species from the park’s bird-viewing platform. The park maintains a record of bird sightings, and over 141 species of birds such as ducks, robins, songbirds, waterfowl, Northern Oriole, Great Blue Heron, and Red-wing blackbirds inhabit the area. Lac Cardinal and the surrounding wetlands are a protective habitat, so birdwatching is abundant, and no matter what time of year you visit, you will have the opportunity to cross birds off your must-see birding list!
Geocaching, an electronic scavenger hunt that uses hand-held GPS devices and registered coordinates to locate a hidden treasure, is an activity for people of many ages. Because the activity relies on a portable device, geocaching isn’t generally weather-restrictive. Queen Elizabeth Provincial Park is one of numerous Alberta parks that permit hidden caches within its boundaries. The park doesn’t sponsor geocaching, so interested cachers should download the information online, and bring their own GPS units with them when heading to the park. Happy treasure hunting!
Cardinal Lake is a boater’s paradise because it is a large, but shallow, body of water that accommodates many boat types. Motorized boats cruising the water or pulling skiers must adhere to the posted speed limits and should be cautious of low water levels because low water levels often mean there are more visible hazards to move around. Lake Cardinal is also a favorite place for sailing and windsurfing as well as kayaking and canoeing, and there are often many different kinds of boats passing one another while moving from one location to another on the water. Both overnight and day use guests may use the boat launch, which is located near the day use area.
Guests who stay at provincial parks often overlook a park’s facilities when choosing a place to stay. The day use area at Queen Elizabeth Provincial Park is one facility that deserves a second look. There is a large, waterfront day use area complete with generous parking, drinking water, restrooms, and proximity to the swimming area, beach, and the boat launch. There is also a picnic area, a picnic shelter, a playground, and hiking trails that pass through the area. Once you get to the day use area, you won’t want to leave, and when the whole family is having a good time, it’s a win for everyone!
Overnight and day use guests should bring their hiking gear and explore the park on foot! The park’s trails run through the boreal forest and near the shores of the water, giving hikers changing scenery and numerous wildlife viewing opportunities. Because the park is in a bear area, hikers are urged to carry bear spray when hiking. For trail details or to pick up a trail map, talk to a member of the park staff.
