Wood Buffalo National Park Bodies of Water

Part of Wood Buffalo National Park's extensive salt plains, Grosbeak Lake resembles a moonscape, its shore strewn with boulders. Various animal tracks can be seen etched in the salt flats, and bird life is abundant here. The South Loop from the Salt River Day Use Area leads to the lake.

Rainbow Lake is a solution sinkhole--a lake created as water pools in a shallow depression, percolating downwards through the soft gypsum and limestone bedrock. This peaceful lake is surrounded by tall spruce trees and features a jetty on which to sit and soak up the serenity. A backcountry campsite is set on the shore. The lake can be reached via the Rainbow Lake Trail from Pine Lake Road.

Originating in the Columbia Icefield, the Athabasca River is the longest river in Alberta, stretching 1538 km (955.7 mi). The Athabasca crosses through areas of the Rocky Mountains, Interior Plains and Canadian Shield. A historic river, it was used for transportation of people and goods during the fur trade and gold rush.

The 434-kilometre-long Slave River flows north from the Peace-Athabasca Delta in Wood Buffalo National Park into Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories. The river is famed for its impressive rapids near Fort Smith, which provide some of the best whitewater kayaking in the world. Hardy pelicans nest on jagged granite river islands amidst the Mountain Portage Rapids, just south of Fort Smith. The Salt Plains on the eastern bank of the river in the Slave River Lowlands are another intriguing natural attraction on this mighty waterway.

Much of what is normally seen of the Salt River is overflow. A significant stretch of the Salt River actually flows underground. During late spring/early summer, the river swells with walleye, northern pike and suckers migrating to the Slave River. A popular viewpoint of the Salt River is from the Salt River Day Use Area off Pine Lake Road, from where the river's impressive limestone and gypsum cliff can be admired.

The Peace River, 1,923 km (1,195 mi) long, is one of the principal tributaries of the Mackenzie River System. Cutting a deep gash, up to 11 km wide, across the Alberta prairie, the river flows into Wood Buffalo National Park where it meets with the Slave River.

This large, stunning lake features aquamarine water and sandy beaches. Formed by the merging of five sinkholes, it is now a popular summer destination for camping, canoeing and swimming. The day-use area features picnic facilities, a cooking shelter and change rooms.

The Peace-Athabasca Delta is a large, freshwater delta in northeastern Alberta. Located at the confluence of the Peace, Athabasca and Slave Rivers, at the western end of Lake Athabasca, the delta is an important habitat for waterfowl nesting and migration.