Pike Lake Provincial Park is a primarily recreational park located approximately 32 km southwest of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. It is located at the southern terminus of Highway 60

Saskatchewan Highway 60

Highway 60 is a provincial highway in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It runs from Highway 7 near Saskatoon to Pike Lake Provincial Park. The highway is approximately 26 km long....

 on the shore of Pike Lake, an oxbow

Oxbow lake

An oxbow lake is a U-shaped body of water formed when a wide meander from the main stem of a river is cut off to create a lake. This landform is called an oxbow lake for the distinctive curved shape, named after part of a yoke for oxen. In Australia, an oxbow lake is called a billabong, derived...

 created by the South Saskatchewan River

South Saskatchewan River

The South Saskatchewan River is a major river in Canada that flows through the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan....

. The Pike Lake area is part of the aspen parkland

Aspen parkland

Aspen parkland refers to a very large area of transitional biome between prairie and boreal forest in two sections; the Peace River Country of northwestern Alberta crossing the border into British Columbia, and a much larger area stretching from central Alberta, all across central Saskatchewan to...

 biome.

The park includes a waterpark, beach, nature trail system, golf course, cabins, and a large campground area, all located on the west shore of the lake, and is a popular destination for school trips and weekend campers due to its proximity to Saskatoon. Several small residential subdivisions are located within the park on the west. A large portion of the park located on the east side of Pike Lake is undeveloped except for a line of cabins in the northeast corner.

This park, one of the smallest provincial parks in Saskatchewan, has been in operation since at least the 1960s. It is close enough to Saskatoon that from its highest point - the golf course in its northwest corner - the city's Viterra (formerly AgPro) grain terminal is visible.

The province requires payment to enter the main western section of the park, so general access is restricted to Highway 60, though a couple of gates on the north and south ends of the park may be opened to adjacent grid roads if needed.

An unincorporated residential community immediately adjacent to the northern park gates is also known by the name Pike Lake.

Fish species

Fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

 species include walleye

Walleye

Walleye is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the northern United States. It is a North American close relative of the European pikeperch...

, sauger

Sauger

The sauger is a freshwater perciform fish of the family Percidae which resembles its close relative the walleye. They are members of the largest vertebrate order, Perciforms. They are the most migratory percid species in North America. Saugers obtain two dorsal fins, the first is spiny and the...

, yellow perch

Yellow perch

The yellow perch is a species of perch found in the United States and Canada, where it is often referred to by the shortform perch. Yellow perch look similar to the European perch, but are paler and more yellowish, with less red in the fins. They have six to eight dark, vertical bars on their sides...

, northern pike

Northern Pike

The northern pike , is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox...

, mooneye

Mooneye

The mooneyes are a family, the Hiodontidae, of primitive ray-finned fish comprising two living and three extinct species in the genus Hiodon. They are large-eyed, fork-tailed fish that physically resemble shads. Their common name comes from the metallic gold or silver shine of their eyes.The higher...

, goldeye

Goldeye

The goldeye, Hiodon alosoides, is a species of fish in the mooneye family . It occurs from as far down the Mackenzie River as Aklavik in the north to Mississippi in the south, and from Alberta in the west to Ohio south of the Great Lakes, with an isolated population south of James Bay. It is...

, burbot

Burbot

The burbot is the only gadiform fish inhabiting freshwaters. It is also known as mariah, the lawyer, and eelpout. It is closely related to the marine common ling and the cusk...

, lake sturgeon

Lake sturgeon

The lake sturgeon is a North American temperate freshwater fish, one of about 20 species of sturgeon. Like other sturgeons, this species is an evolutionarily ancient bottomfeeder with a partly cartilaginous skeleton and skin bearing rows of bony plates...

, white sucker

White Sucker

The White Sucker is a bottom-feeding freshwater fish inhabiting North America from Labrador in the north to Georgia and New Mexico in the south. It is a long, round-bodied fish with a dark green, grey, copper, brown, or black back and sides and a light underbelly. When fullgrown, it is between 12...

, longnose sucker

Longnose sucker

The longnose sucker, Catostomus catostomus, is a freshwater species of fish inhabiting cold, clear waters in North America from northern USA to the top of the continent. In addition, it is one of two species of sucker to inhabit Asia, specifically the rivers of eastern Siberia...

 and shorthead redhorse

Shorthead redhorse

-Introduction:The Shorthead Redhorse is a wide-ranging species in North America that needs to be monitored throughout its range. The Shorthead Redhorse is native to central and eastern North America. However, its range has expanded to include areas like the Hudson estuary and Grayson County, Texas...

.

External links

• Pike Lake Provincial Park
• http://www.publications.gov.sk.ca/details.cfm?p=11115 Fish Species of Saskatchewan
• Pike Lake Park Association