Ice Bubbles Parking Lot + Hoodoo Creek Area

The most accessible location on Abraham Lake

The new parking lot and lake access lead you to one of the best spots for ice bubbles on Abraham Lake with the classic views of Mount Michener and Sentinel Mountain.

Published on January 11, 2021 | Last updated on October 31, 2022

The area between Hoodoo Creek and Windy Point has long been a favourite of ours, with great ice bubbles and views. In 2021 Alberta Environment built a new parking lot for this area, making it much easier to access the ice bubbles.

This is where you will find the deeper stacks of bubbles and the turquoise ice, complete with Abraham Mountain, Windy Point Ridge, Kista Mountain, Mount Michener, Elliott's Peak and Sentinel Mountain as your backdrops.

It does get busy but there is plenty of room to spread out and enjoy the moment once you get on the ice.

Abraham Lake Ice Bubbles
Abraham Lake Ice Bubbles

At a Glance

  • Activities: Ice walks, photography, sightseeing
  • Time needed: Plan on at least 60 minutes
  • Family-friendly: Yes
  • Season: Late December to March
  • Congestion: Moderate to Busy
  • Management: Kiska / Wilson PLUZ

Trailhead: From Nordegg, the Ice Bubbles parking lot is approximately 35 km away travelling west on Highway 11. Coming from Saskatchewan Crossing it is approximately 55 km east on Highway 11. Parking and dry toilets are available.

Ice Safety

We've put together a guide with a few things to consider when you plan your Abraham Lake ice walk to make it a safe adventure.

Head Out With A Guide

All tours and activities bookings are handled by Explore Nordegg & Abraham Lake and tours like these are offered by local partners. Most bookings require a minimum of 2 days' notice, contact us for last-minute options.

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Abraham Lake Ice Bubbles

We all have our part to do to keep this place special. Planning ahead is key to ensuring that we all continue to enjoy adventures in the Nordegg & Abraham Lake region. These are a few of the things you can do to help:

  • Minimize your impact by using existing sites, fire rings and toilets instead of creating your own.
  • Know about current fire bans, make sure that your fire is completely out before you go and buy firewood instead of cutting down trees. Remember that shooting fireworks is not allowed in the region.
  • Keep your site clean and your food stored inside your vehicle to help keep our wildlife wild. Always use bear-proof garbage bins.
  • While alcohol is now permitted in some Alberta Parks day-use areas, none of those are in our region. Alcohol is only allowed at registered campsites.
  • Be mindful of your neighbours and other visitors, including keeping noise to a minimum.
  • Be prepared for adventures in a remote area. Explore within your skills to reduce the strain on our volunteer search and rescue team.
  • Remember that cell service is limited. We recommend carrying a satellite communicator, like a Zoleo, on your adventures.
  • Support local businesses and communities in Cline River, the Bighorn and Nordegg.

Information provided here may be inaccurate or outdated. Always make sure to obtain current information before going on your adventure.

Head Out On Your Own

Sometimes you just want to head out on your own to explore the area. We get it. Here’s our guide for the Ice Bubbles parking lot and Hoodoo Creek area. You'll find our guides to other ice bubble locations on Abraham Lake here.

Accessing the Ice

There are a few options to access the lake in this area but the easiest is to park at the new Ice Bubbles parking lot instead of illegally parking on the side of the highway.

At the parking lot, the lake can easily be accessed by walking down the rocky shore, following the path that starts at the locked gates. Access to the lake is only 100 metres here, but the rocky shorelines and ice left on shore can make it challenging.

Ice Bubbles Parking Lot

Ice Bubbles and Ice Features

This area is my favourite with clear ice, lots of interesting features along the shoreline and amazing backdrops. The best options change from week to week depending on conditions, but we always find some amazing options in this area. This is especially true if you're willing to walk a little further and spend some time exploring.

Ice Bubbles at Sunset
Ice Bubbles at Sunset
Elliott's Peak and Sentinel Mountain
Kista Peak

Safety Considerations

This area is fairly straightforward from an ice safety perspective. If you head out toward Windy Point, avoid the area where a stream enters the lake and the island. The cliff edge of the island is not always visible, and the ice there breaks easily.

If you're heading in the other direction, toward Hoodoo Creek, keep an eye for another stream entering the lake and the pressure ridge that often forms in that area. You'll be able to identify the pressure ridge from the wide white line going across the lake, with broken ice pointing up.

The People

All the stories we share are by locals, whether they live here or love our region and contribute to making it an amazing place.

Contributors to this Story:

Author

  • JP Fortin

    JP is the Owner + CEO at Nordegg Adventures where he oversees the development of new adventures, guide training, strategic planning, marketing and destination development partnerships.

Conditions and Updates

We share this information to help visitors to the area plan their trip. This represents the conditions we have observed at a specific point in time. Ice safety depends on many more factors than just ice conditions and anybody going on the ice should have the knowledge and experience required to assess the risks, or should consider going with a guide.

Abraham Lake Ice Conditions – April 3 2023

This will be the last update of the season. The lake is currently 100% snow covered after a series of spring storms, making the bubble hunt challenging, but fun!

Abraham Lake Ice Conditions – March 24 2023

Spring has sprung! The bubbles are still here, but are getting increasingly harder to see due to foggy ice.

Abraham Lake Ice Conditions – March 17 2023

Still plenty of bubbles to be found as we near spring.

Abraham Lake Ice Conditions – March 11 2023

We are still enjoying great late season conditions on the lake.