It’s taking a while for the concept to emerge, but the north shore of Lesser Slave Lake might just be a sleeping giant of a tourist attraction for the area. It has many elements that make it appealing to certain interest groups and they are already taking notice – as far away as Europe.
“It has lots of advantages,” says Miro Micovsky of Big Lake Country Tourism. “We can say we have a new tourist attraction.”
Here’s the concept, as roughed out by Micovsky in an interview last week. It begins with the Trans Canada Trail, which although not completely built, exists at least in concept along the entire north shore of the lake. Regardless of its status of completion, the Trans Canada Trail is apparently a fascinating concept to vacationers far and wide.
“There’s even a German website devoted to (it),” says Micovsky.
The website seeks to create a registry for accommodations along the trail, from coast to coast to coast, so that interested travellers can plan their walking, biking or horseback riding holidays along and around it. It sounds promising.
There are several factors that make it so, besides the allure of the TC Trail itself. One is the location along the lake. Another is the fact that it traverses a part of northern Alberta that has no roads. But it’s the added attractions along the way that really make it special. Right in the middle of the trek along the north shore is The Narrows Cultural Resort. Run by the Kapawe’eno First Nation, the resort has Native cultural programs and accommodations available to trail trekkers.
Meanwhile, at both ends of the north shore are provincial parks. In one of them is the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory, soon to become the Boreal Centre for Bird Conservation.
In Grouard at the west end of the lake is the Cultural Arts Museum. And just added to the attractions along the north shore is a horseback riding service, located near Marten Beach.
Put all those things together, Micovsky says, and the north shore “can be one of our major tourism products.”
At the moment, however, it isn’t anything close to being a ‘product’, meaning something that can be promoted as a unit. Work needs to be done, but more fundamentally, a vision is needed. What Micovsky would like to see for starters is the towns of Slave Lake and High Prairie, along with the two concerned municipal districts getting together to come up with a long-term plan for north shore tourism.
“That would be great,” he says. “It’s a perfect product. It’s out there, but we are not offering it.”
Some development would be in order, although nothing that would reduce the wilderness appeal of the north shore, Micovsky is quick to point out. The trail needs completion, for sure.
A few rustic camping areas along the way would come in very handy too, he figures. Signage, for sure, to direct hikers or riders along the way. And of course the buy-in from the various tourism players along the way, including The Narrows, the parks, the museum and so on.
Seen all together like that, it makes a lot of sense.
Meanwhile, the Trans Canada Trail seems to be selling itself, whether the various municipalities it passes through are ready or not. The German Trail website project seems pretty good evidence of that. Its operators predict “thousands” of German users of the trail, and possibly millions of North Americans. It would seem a good idea to at least have a trail in place when they start showing up to walk or ride the Lesser Slave Lake portion of it.
“It’s a good economic development project,” Micovsky says. “We’re lucky to have something like that.”

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