Hastings Lake, Alberta
Encyclopedia
Hastings Lake is a hamlet
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
in Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
within Strathcona County
Strathcona County, Alberta
Strathcona County is a specialized municipality in central Alberta, Canada between Edmonton and Elk Island National Park.It is located in Division No. 11 and is also part of the Edmonton Census Metropolitan Area. More than half of the population lives in Sherwood Park, a large community east of...
. It is located on the south shore of Hastings Lake
Hastings Lake (Alberta)
Hastings Lake is a lake in Alberta. It is located in Strathcona County, east of Cooking Lake....
, approximately 40 kilometres (24.9 mi) southeast of Sherwood Park
Sherwood Park, Alberta
Sherwood Park is a large hamlet in Alberta, Canada within Strathcona County that is recognized as an urban service area. It is located adjacent to the City of Edmonton's eastern boundary, generally south of Highway 16 , west of Highway 21 and north of Highway 630...
. It is 1.5 kilometre (0.93205910497471 mi) north of Highway 14.
The lake was renamed in 1884 for Tom Hastings, a member of Tyrell's geological survey
Geological survey
The term geological survey can be used to describe both the conduct of a survey for geological purposes and an institution holding geological information....
party. The original name was Kawtikh, which in the Cree
Cree
The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although...
language means "the lake that does not freeze".
The large forested area in the Hastings Lake Watershed is a key area for moose
Moose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
and white-tailed deer
White-tailed Deer
The white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...
. With close proximity to the Cooking Lake-Blackfoot Wildlife, Grazing and Provincial Recreation Area and the Waskahegan Staging Area, many hiking and cross-country skiing possibilities exists.