Nightfall At Elk Island Retreat

We have been meaning to stay at Elk Island Retreat for years now, since we met the owner/operators while on vacation at Black Cat Ranch. We shared a wonderful weekend and they left us with a standing invitation to visit them at Elk Island Retreat. Wouldn't you know that the one time we finally made it out for a weekend of camping and relaxing out in the fresh air, they were away.

So we set off to experience what the campground had to offer. The first night I knew we were in deep.

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Like many camp grounds there are different ammenities and areas. There are the rows of slots set aside for the big RV's and campers. Fully serviced lots with water and electrcity are typical but not for me. We wanted a rustic well treed site away from the crowds. I go tent camping mostly so I have all the gear to be self contained. We were shown a tent spot that would have been great for a small bus load of people, hidden deep in the woods. Perfect.

If we were using a tent we would have had about 4 or 5 good spots to choose from but this summer I acquired a 5x10 foot utility trailer and we have been slowly converting it to use as a camper.

The first thing I did to our "redneck RV" was to put on a set of roofracks for our canoe and a vent fan. Then I setup a sleeping platform high enough to slide our gear boxes underneath. Now all we do when its time to go camping is hook up the trailer and go. No more messing around as all the gear is already in the trailer.

As Elk Island Retreat is 45 minutes east of Edmonton we were at the sites and setup and having supper less than two hours from leaving my jobsite on Friday afternoon. If we had to setup a tent and tarps it would have been more work. We had them, but after all we were out there to relax.

But I digress. Besides the RV sites and the tent sites there are a couple of group camping areas, a covered picnic shelter with a propane BBQ and 6 large picnic tables shelter by a roof. One of the unique features of this campground are the tipee shelters. There are 3 tipees that are available to rent, they sleep 6 and have a wooden floor. Just a fun sort of family treat.

There are a few hiking trails that meander around a wild section of the grounds around a small pond full of wildlife. We heard some of it when we were setting up camp.

So far we've seen or heard a wide selection of creatures. Our nearest and noisiest being the red squirrels. They left us no chance of knowing who owns these woods and that taxes will be "owing" if we leave anything out and available. I think these ones were trained by Robin Hood himself. Besides the red squirrels we have the song birds of which I have seen the chickdees up close and a few warblers and sparows as well.

When darkness was falling were were suprised and serenaded by no less than three large owls, I believe them to be great horned owls but I didn't see them only heard them. We also heard a family of Canada Geese come flying in formation as they practice and strengthen their wings for the fall migration. We heard them landing on the pond a short distance down the slope.

Next we go walking the trails.

Listen careful you may hear an owl in the distance, the fire crackling and the wind in the trees.

Elk Island Resort sits minutes from the west gate of Elk Island National Park. This wilderness park supports herds of both plains bison and wood bison. The park is reported to have the most hoofed animals within its borders than any other park in the world second only to the Serengeti of Africa.

The Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village. is another living museum showcasing the early settlers of the area. Comer by and see how things were and how they are now. The Ukrainian culture is alive and well.

Cooking Lake-Blackfoot Provincial Recreation Area combined with Elk Island National Park is a Dark Sky preserve. Enjoy the night sky when you are in the area.

We were expecting the coyotes. They are pretty plentiful in these parts. The mournful sounds of the coyotes in the evening makes for a great experience around the campfire.

What we didn't expect was the trio of Great Horned owls hooting at three different points around our campsite. The area that makes for a great campground also proves to be great habitat for owls. We tried going for a night walk in hopes of meeting one but settled for hearing them. Awesome.

We also kept an eye open for little brown bats which are more common in our area than people realize. On our hike around the slough, or pond, we saw quite a few bat house installed quite awhile ago. I assume they were put up as part of a Scout project as the lower field had a posted sign saying it was a Boy Scout camping area.