Patricia Beach Provincial Park [1] | |
---|---|
Location | Manitoba, Canada |
Nearest city | Winnipeg, Manitoba |
Coordinates | 50°25′37″N96°36′22″W / 50.42694°N 96.60611°W [1] |
Area | 54.42 ha (134.5 acres) |
Established | 1961 |
Governing body | Government of Manitoba |
Patricia Beach Provincial Park is a provincial park on the south-east shore of Balsam Bay on Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada. [1] [2] The park is located within the Rural Municipality of St. Clements and can be accessed by road from Manitoba Provincial Road 319. [2] In the summer, people relax by the lake on the fine sand beach. [3] During the winter, people using snowmobiles or quads to go ice fishing on Balsam Bay get on to the lake from the south parking lot. [4]
Patricia Beach Provincial Park was designated a provincial park by the Government of Manitoba in 1961. [5] It is 54.42 ha (0.2101 sq mi) in size. [5] Facilities within the park are limited to washrooms and a concession during the summer months. [5]
The park is located on a narrow strip of sand and gravel extending between Balsam Bay in Lake Winnipeg and marshy Beaconia Lake. This barrier beach is broken by a channel at the northern end of the park allowing water from the lagoon into the lake itself. The lake shore drops off very gradually with many shifting sandbars below the water surface. The fine sand beach is backed by thinly vegetated active sand dunes. A strip of forest divides the sandy areas from the inland marsh. The width of the open beach area is dependent on the overall level of the Lake Winnipeg south basin. In addition, wind driven seiche events can cause the water to rise or lower over the ice-free season. [5]
The park is identified as a birding hotspot with over 220 species recorded observed. [6] The southern half is within the boundaries of the Netley-Libau Marsh Important Bird Area (IBA), enclosing a network of wetlands on either side of the outflow of the Red River into Lake Winnipeg. This network of marshes provide an important staging area for birds migrating to southern wintering grounds. [7]
The Red River, also called the Red River of the North to differentiate it from the Red River in the south of the continent, is a river in the north-central United States and central Canada. Originating at the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers between the U.S. states of Minnesota and North Dakota, it flows northward through the Red River Valley, forming most of the border of Minnesota and North Dakota and continuing into Manitoba. It empties into Lake Winnipeg, whose waters join the Nelson River and ultimately flow into Hudson Bay.
Lake Winnipeg is a very large, relatively shallow 24,514-square-kilometre (9,465 sq mi) lake in North America, in the province of Manitoba, Canada. Its southern end is about 55 kilometres (34 mi) north of the city of Winnipeg. Lake Winnipeg is Canada's sixth-largest freshwater lake and the third-largest freshwater lake contained entirely within Canada, but it is relatively shallow excluding a narrow 36 m (118 ft) deep channel between the northern and southern basins. It is the eleventh-largest freshwater lake on Earth. The lake's east side has pristine boreal forests and rivers that were in 2018 inscribed as Pimachiowin Aki, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The lake is 416 km (258 mi) from north to south, with remote sandy beaches, large limestone cliffs, and many bat caves in some areas. Manitoba Hydro uses the lake as one of the largest reservoirs in the world. There are many islands, most of them undeveloped.
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Basket Lake Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is a provincially designated protected area in Manitoba. It is located north of Lake Manitoba and west of Hwy 6. It was designated under the Manitoba Wildlife Act by the Government of Manitoba in 1974. It is 7,260 hectares (28.0 sq mi) in size. The WMA is named after 'Basket Lake', a shallow lake surrounded by marsh, located in its southern portion.
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