Nice SMALL campground for those looking to disconnect (no cell service) and spend time with their families.
The campsites have 30 amp service, never had any issue with the power.
The campsites are all open, close together, and if you’re in the middle section there is no trees or privacy between them. The campsites on the outside of the loop looked better (they don’t have trees between them either) but they back onto the trees.
All the campsites have their own firepit and picnic table, which both looked to be brand new (July 2022). They sell firewood on site.
Unlike other campgrounds, we never saw the staff of the park leave their booth to check on the sites, but there wasn’t any noisy neighbors or complaints.
The fish and wildlife officers were there the first day in their boat ensuring everyone was enjoying the lake responsibly.
There is a small boat launch. We saw a handful of boats and kayakers and they looked to be having a great time. It wasn’t busy on the water so it would be a good spot for those planning to spend time on the water.
There were two sandy beaches advertised (one within the campground and one in the day use are), and both are not water accessible as it’s sand, then reeds, then water, so you can’t actually walk into the water from the sand.
The area where the sandy beach is within the campground is very small and located next to their playground. It’s only big enough to use as an access to the water to get into your kayak or on your paddle board.
The day use area was within walking distance as it’s directly outside the campground. Their sandy beach area is bigger, but it has the same layout (sand, then reeds, then water). There are picnic tables, a firepit, garbage cans, and an outhouse at the day use area.
The bathrooms are all outhouses, and you could smell them from a couple lots away, so I recommend NOT booking a lot close to the bathrooms.
No cell phone service, which is great for some, but makes it very difficult to explore around neighbouring areas (such as skeleton lake) with no cell phone service to search for directions.
The playground was a nature themed playground (photo attached) and was great for little ones who love to climb but there wasn’t much else around to keep little ones entertained as the campground was very small so you can walk the entire area in a short amount of time and they can’t go swimming unless you have a boat so it was limiting for those without a boat or kayak.
There was a small walking trail that went around the outer loop of the campground so that you could go for a short walk without being on the road.
Overall, it was a nice quiet weekend at a small campground. It is nice to get out and explore new places, but with so many campgrounds within Alberta to explore, this would be one that we would only want to visit once.
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Date of stay: July 2022Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Most of the camp sites at North Buck Lake are very open and close to neighbours. The best site is by far #21, especially if you know who is in #19. It has a lake view, tree cover, and direct lake access for paddle boards or kayaks. There is no beach at the site, only reedy shores, but it was quite nice for paddle boarding in all of the bays. There are lots of sand dunes used for biking and quading and a short gravel trail through the park that is stroller and probably wheelchair friendly. We saw lots of birds: pelicans, terns, gulls, ducks, geese, ravens, sand pipers types, tri-colored black birds, etc.
Has small boat launch and pit toilets. Has sandy day use areas with picnic tables but the lake is blocked by reeds. Not ideal. You can boat across to other beachy areas, but they are also used by quads.
Fishing opportunities. Mosquito invasion after dark. Saw moose and baby on the road in.
Despite the open sites, this was an enjoyable and fairly quiet place on Canada Day long weekend. Had a relaxing time.
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Date of stay: July 2022Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This Provincial Recreational Area / Campsite is below average compared to most Alberta Provincial recreational campsites. There are 95 non-serviced campsites and 30 that have powered service. The website lists fire wood for sale for $5 but the sign at the firewood is $6 but we saw that they will deliver it to your site for $10. On the Website they also list that the " Water is available from a hand pump at this site. Although Alberta Parks strives to maintain water quality, we recommend that you bring your own drinking water." and they aren't kidding. Out of the 2 hand pumps in the campsite 1 had a handle and the water is slightly off color and smells. There is a sign that stated the water needs to be boiled first before drinking. Most of the sites in the powered section appeared to be nice with trees surrounding the sites. Not all private but much better than the non-powered area. The Non Powered area is mostly an open field with a few trees. There are some treed sites but not that many. The biggest issue we had while we were there is the lack of outhouses for this many sites. because of this many times the outhouses had line ups and smelled worse than most. This all being said the lake is a good recreation lake that is quite busy with powered and non-powered boats. The boat launch is mud as the water level is now down below where the actual launch ends. People were still using it even though the sign said not too. There is little to no cell phone service here which is either a good thing or a bad thing. Will we be bad. Probably not. There are many better locations out there that are way nicer than this for the same camping fees.
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Date of stay: July 2016
Rooms
Cleanliness
Service
Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Â Try to get into the Powered Sites.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
There are more places to choose from in the Caslan area.
LOCATION
CanadaAlbertaAthabasca CountyCaslan
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