Location: Located on Gull Lake 35 minutes NW of Red Deer
Parking: Free lot parking along the beach – gets pretty full by mid-day on a hot day
Cost: Free
Amenities: Bathrooms, concession, playground, campground, picnic areas
Our Review:
We stopped by Aspen Beach on a hot Saturday in July just after lunch. We lucked into a parking spot, but the lot was quite full. It would probably be smart to go earlier in the day or closer to supper time to make parking a bit easier. Despite the full lot, there was still room on the beach and lots of room in the water. It was busy but not crowded.
I had heard the water was shallow but I still hadn’t anticipated just how shallow the water would be. My 2 year old was able to crawl through the water for quite a while and the water was wading depth for a long time.
This beach isn’t really the best for swimming, but it is great for water play. If you have water toys or floaties, this is a great spot to use them. It is an excellent beach for young kids because of the shallow water too. You will want to be careful that they don’t stray too far – they are likely to feel confident to keep going quite a ways out. Although there is some shade, you will probably want to bring your own (and some sand toys!).
The campground, concession and playground are on the south end of the beach. As I understand it, they also have some well cleaned flush toilets in this area. Further down the beach to the North you can also find washrooms, but they are of the outhouse variety and well cleaned is not the term I would have used to describe them on our visit.
Our family had a great time at Aspen Beach and we are looking forward to coming back again for a day trip. Calgary, doesn’t have many public beaches so making the two hour drive up to Aspen Beach would be well worth it.
