August 2024 Site Update and Trip to Narrow Hills Provincial Park
July and August have been busy with lots of new features, including a new and improved search. and content being added to the site. I've also launched a contest and managed to visit a whole bunch of new lakes as well. Plus there is a brand new SaskLakes Office!
Updates
Improved Search Page
The new search page has been released. It has an improved interactive map, better filtering, and will also will let you search for parks. Some of the new filters include:
I'm still working on adding more filters, and I have a bunch of ideas for how to improve the map. If you have any suggestions, or if you find any bugs, please let me know!
Lake of the day
I've continued with lake of the day and have been posting a new lake every weekday on the site as well as the SaskLakes social media pages. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
It's been fun getting to share different lakes with the community and see comments/photos from people who have visited the lakes. I especially enjoy hearing about people's memories of the different lakes. If you have a specific lake that you think should be featured let me know! Thanks to everyone who has been sharing and commenting, please keep it up!
User generated content
I've improved the functionality around user submitted comments, questions, photos, and experiences. It's been great seeing some of the photos and comments that have been submitted. I'll be continuing to improve this part of the site, and there will be some really cool new features coming soon, especially around the experience tracking which lets you record what lakes you visited and what you did there!
Profile
To help support the new user generated content, I've added a profile page where you can manage your account and a public profile page where your activity on the site is visible. I'm still working on adding more features to the profile page, but it's a good start!
New users
There have been nearly 60 new users sign up in the last month. Thanks to everyone who has signed up, and I hope you're enjoying the site! If you have any feedback or suggestions, please let me know! I'm hoping to try and build a more active community around the site and would love to hear your thoughts on how to best do that.
Newsletter
I've started working on a newsletter for SaskLakes. I'm not positive what it will look like yet, but it will be a great way to stay updated on everything that's happening at lakes across the province as well as what new features are being added to the site. If you're interested in signing up, you can do so here.
Contest
I launched a contest where you can win a $50 and $100 gift card to Amazon. You get an entry by signing up, and you can earn additional entries to the contest by submitting photos, comments, questions, and experiences and for signing up for the SaskLakes newsletter. The draw for the $50 card will take place at the end of August, and the draw for the $100 card will be at the end of September. Please sign up and tell your friends!
New Documents Page
I've added a new page to make it easier to find all the documents I've added to the site. A lot more will be added going forward and I'll continue to improve this page and experience.
Improved Stocked Waters Page
I added a lot more information to the page about stocked lakes here in SK. The formatting is improved, and there is now a filterable list of stocked lakes at the end of the page that you can use to find stocked lakes near you, lakes stocked with a specific species and more!
New SaskLakes Office
I've also built myself a new office at my cabin. The bugs have been were pretty awfull this year and it's pretty nice being able to work outside without getting eaten alive. Now I can write about lakes while looking at one!
Lake Visits
I've managed to stop in at almost 50 different lakes in the last month. I've visited a few new ones, but also lots of old favourites! I've got thousands of new photos that I still need to upload to the site, and lots of new attractions/features that will be updated when I have a chance.
Prince Albert National Park
I took a few day trips to some of the beautiful lakes in Prince Albert National Park.
Narrow Hills Provincial Park
I also went back for a few days to my old favourite Narrow Hills Provincial Park. I've been going there for years, but still managed to find a few little lakes I had never been too.
Porcupine Hills Provincial Park
This was my first time visiting Porcupine Hills Provincial Park. It's a beautiful park with a ton of lakes and a lot of great hiking trails. I'll be writing more about my trip and uploading more photos soon.
Martins Lake and area
I also did a quick trip over to Martins Lake and the lakes in that area. The first family cabin growing up was at Martins and it was a lot of fun to see that it's still there!
What an amazing month!
It's been a busy and really fun month of exploring lakes here in Saskatchewan. With lots of progress on the site and SaskLakes community. Can't wait to see what the next few months bring!
I've got a few new favourite lakes and was suprised by a few things I found:
- The rec site beach at Little Bear Lake is really nice. I've been to the lake a few times but never actually seen the beach in the Rec. Site. It's beautiful, great sand and super clear water!
- Singh Lake is a worth the effort to find. It's a bit tricky to find, but it's a really pretty little spot.
- Burtlein Lake is very easy to miss! The lake is near Sealey Lake but I've never been there before. There is no signage and if you don't know where to stop it's hard to find.
- Stickley Lake is a great paddling lake! The lake is quiet, and it has a ton of little bays and a few islands to explore.
- There are far too many Shell Lakes within a short drive of each other! The Shell Lake by Chitek Lake has a really pretty campground though with some nice sites right on the water.
- Lac Eauclaire has some amazing water for swimming. It's a pretty little lake and the water is super clear.
- The campground at Smallfish Lake is one of the nicest I've seen. Huge sites, nices trees, not too close to your neighbours. I'd like to spend a few nights there some day!
- This is just a partial list, and I'm missing a bunch of lakes that I really enjoyed. Just so many amazing lakes for us to explore in this province!
Photos
