Madge Lake facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Madge Lake |
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 Madge Lake
Location in Saskatchewan
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| Location | Duck Mountain Provincial Park, Saskatchewan |
| Coordinates | 51°40′N 101°38′W / 51.667°N 101.633°W |
| Primary inflows | numerous unnamed creeks from the west, south, and east |
| Primary outflows | single unnamed seasonal creek flowing north |
| Basin countries | Canada |
| Max. length | 5 km (3.1 mi) |
| Max. width | 5 km (3.1 mi) |
| Surface area | 21 km2 (8.1 sq mi) |
| Average depth | 4 m (13 ft), with three basins, partially separated by an extensive shallow area (<1 m) west of the lake center |
| Max. depth | 12 m (39 ft) |
| Shore length1 | 45 km (28 mi), mostly marshy, some limestone rock |
| Surface elevation | 600 m (2,000 ft) |
| Islands | 4 |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
Madge Lake is a beautiful freshwater lake in eastern Saskatchewan, Canada. It's about 18 kilometers east of the town of Kamsack. This lake is a big part of Duck Mountain Provincial Park. It measures about 5 kilometers by 5 kilometers, covering a total area of 21 square kilometers. You can easily get to Madge Lake by taking Highway 57.
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Fun Things to Do at Madge Lake
Madge Lake is the main attraction at Duck Mountain Provincial Park. There are lots of fun activities you can do here all year round!
Summer Adventures
When the weather is warm, you can enjoy:
- Swimming at two sandy beaches: Ministik Beach and Pickerel Point Beach.
- Boating and water skiing.
- Fishing for different kinds of fish.
- Hiking and bicycling on trails.
- Horseback riding.
- Playing miniature golf or a full 18-hole golf game.
You can also see lots of amazing wildlife, especially ducks and other waterfowl. There's a large campground and cabins to rent. Many families also have private vacation homes around the lake.
Winter Fun
When winter arrives, Madge Lake freezes over. The ice is thick enough for exciting activities like:
- Snowmobile riding.
- Ice fishing.
- Downhill skiing and cross-country skiing in the park.
About 80 centimeters of snow falls here each winter, making it perfect for snow sports!
Fishing in Madge Lake
Madge Lake is home to four main types of game fish:
- walleye (also called pickerel)
- northern pike (also called jackfish)
- yellow perch
- burbot
There are also many white suckers and smaller fish. To help keep the fish population healthy, new walleye are added to the lake. To protect the fish, there are special rules like size limits and using only barbless hooks. This helps make sure there are enough fish for everyone to enjoy.
Some smaller lakes nearby don't have many fish because they can run out of oxygen in winter. But Jackfish Lake, which is close by, has rainbow trout and tiger trout. It also has special equipment to keep oxygen levels up during winter.
Madge Lake's Climate and Seasons
Eastern Saskatchewan has very different seasons. Winters can be colder than -30°C, and summers can be hotter than +30°C. This means Madge Lake changes a lot throughout the year.
Winter on the Lake
The lake usually freezes over from mid-November to mid-April. From mid-December to early March, the ice is strong enough to walk, snowmobile, or even drive on! This is when ice fishing and snowmobiling are popular.
Spring Thaw
Snow starts melting in early March and continues into early April. The lake itself usually isn't completely free of ice until early May.
Summer Warmth
The "summer season" officially begins around late May and ends in early September. The water is warm enough for swimming from early July to late August.
Quiet Seasons
Spring (March and April) and Fall (October and November) are the quietest times. During these months, it's often too cold for summer water activities and not yet snowy enough for winter sports.
Caring for Madge Lake's Environment
With so many visitors, there are some concerns about the lake's environment. More people are visiting in winter for skiing and snowmobiling, making the lake less quiet than it used to be. Many people feel the lake has enough development already and don't want more cottages or buildings. Some plans for new developments have even been stopped.
Changing Water Levels
The lake's water level can change a lot. It dropped quite a bit between the 1960s and 1970s. Because the lake is on a high piece of land, its level depends a lot on how much rain falls each year. Since the lake is also quite shallow, even small changes in water level are very noticeable. When the water was low, the shoreline became muddy. An outlet stream that usually drains the lake even stopped flowing in the 1970s.
Good news! By the late 1990s, the water level had risen again. This was great, but it also caused some young trees along the shore to drown. Marsh plants also grew a lot in areas that used to be dry land. The water level dropped again in 2000 during a very dry year, but it has since risen quite high, especially after a very wet summer in 2010 and a snowy winter in 2010/2011. This high water has made some boat launches hard to reach and has covered up much of the sandy beaches.
Effects of Water Level Changes
The changing water levels have also affected the lake's islands and wildlife. When the water was lowest in the 1970s, Spruce Island, the lake's largest island, was connected to the mainland by dry land. A large gravel bar in the northern part of the lake was also exposed. Now, with higher water, Spruce Island is an island again, and the gravel bar is underwater.
Sadly, the common terns and herring gulls that used to nest on the gravel bar can no longer breed there. However, the higher water levels have been good for other animals like common loons, red-necked grebes, and beavers. Ducks are also doing very well in the newly flooded areas along the shore. Plus, fishing has improved a lot since the low water days of the 1970s!
How Water Flows in Madge Lake
Madge Lake's water mostly stays within the lake. However, a creek with many beaver dams allows water to slowly flow out to the north. There are controls at the creek's exit to help manage the lake's water level. This water eventually reaches Bear Head Lake, then Bear Head Creek, and finally joins the Swan River. This means Madge Lake is part of the Swan River drainage basin, not the nearby Assiniboine River's.
The lake water is very clean and healthy. It's slightly rich in nutrients, which is good for life in the lake. The water is also a bit hard and alkaline, with a pH of about 8.2, thanks to limestone. Sometimes, the water can look a bit cloudy after windy days because of tiny plants (called phytoplankton) and stirred-up clay from the bottom. But overall, the water quality is considered excellent, one of the best in Saskatchewan's parks!
Trees Around Madge Lake
The forest around Madge Lake is very old, over 100 years old! The last big forest fire here was in the mid-1800s. Now, the main trees you'll see are White spruce and balsam fir. These are evergreen trees.
In the past, there were more paper birch and trembling aspen trees, which lose their leaves in the fall. These deciduous trees started to die off in the 1980s. For most of the 1900s, Spruce Island looked very different because it had evergreen trees while the rest of the shore had younger deciduous trees. That's how Spruce Island got its name! But now that the lakeshore forest is also old, Spruce Island's trees don't look as unique anymore.
Fish Species in Madge Lake
The main Fish species found in Madge Lake include:
