Ghost Lake, Reservoir in Western Alberta, Canada.
Ghost Lake is a water reservoir formed along the Bow River and surrounded by rolling terrain characteristic of western Alberta. The dam-controlled water body offers space for fishing, boating, and other recreational uses throughout the year.
The Ghost Dam was completed in 1929, creating the reservoir on the Bow River. Calgary Power Ltd. developed it on land leased from the Nakoda First Nation. The company was renamed TransAlta Utilities in 1981, and the dam and lake are used mainly for power generation, producing an average of 173,000 megawatt hours per year.
The lake takes its name from the Ghost River, which enters at its northern end; the dam sits below that confluence. The summer village of Ghost Lake, on the north shore about 3 km upstream of the dam, is a small seasonal settlement. Anglers come for lake trout, mountain whitefish, lake whitefish and brown trout.
Public access to the lake is limited to the Ghost Reservoir Provincial Recreation Area, between the mouth of the Ghost River and the northeastern end of the lake beside the dam. The summer village of Ghost Lake sits on the north shore about 3 km upstream of the dam, and Highway 1A runs along that shore. Water levels shift with power generation, and the lake stays frozen from December to about mid-May.
The Ghost Lake Iceboat Club sails here, drawn by the strong, consistent winds funnelled through the Bow Valley. The lake freezes from December until about mid-May, giving iceboaters a long season on the ice. The same wind makes the water suitable for sailing in summer.
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