J.J. Collett Natural Area: Central Alberta's Wilderness Park

The area where I live, near Lacombe, Alberta is part of beautiful central Alberta. Our region is dominated in the summer by lush rolling hills, golden fields of canola or wheat, and patches of thick deciduous and coniferous trees dotting the landscape. It is serenely beautiful for a farming area. In the winter, our fields fill with blankets of white snow, while the green needles of the pine trees give colour to the land.

The area is not what I would call wild, although it is pretty. The many farms and fields ensure that wherever you go, you know civilization is close at hand.

Recently, however, my little family discovered a local 'natural area' located only ten minutes away from our house - a wilderness preserve where people can go for a hike, cross-country ski, host a picnic, or just get away from it all. The space is called the "J.J. Collett Natural Area".

The J.J. Collett Nature Area is a hop, skip, and a jump away from my house! 

Two days ago, my kids and I were feeling a little stir-crazy from being cooped up in the house after a long bout of sickness and cold weather. We were ready to go outside and have a little Albertan winter fun. I grabbed my various cameras, hoping to make a goofy little family video of our day. Then we bundled up, loaded the toboggans into the vehicle, and off we went.

J.J. Collett is easy to reach. As first-time visitors, the easiest route we found was to drive down Highway 2 (the QEII as it known around here) from the city of Lacombe to the Morningside access (Exit 437 onto Highway 2A). You cross the railroad tracks into the little village of Morningside, but directly after crossing the tracks you turn right onto a side road. Do not actually drive into Morningside. It is pretty straight-forward because at the corner there is also a painted sign pointing to "J.J. Collett". Easy peasy!

Bright lichens adorning trees are only one of the neat things to find at J.J. Collett.

Continue on that side road, which turns and twists a little, and then turn right to drive out of Morningside (again, there is a sign pointing to "J.J. Collet"). Continue down that road - I think it is called Township Road 414 - until you see the little parking lot on the side of the road with a big, black metal sign announcing your arrival to the natural area.

To make life easier, just enter "J.J. Collett" into Google Maps or your GPS system and you will find it no problem. Ah, the wonders of technology!

The nature area is free of charge, and is open from dawn until dusk daily. There are a few rules you should be aware of so that you can enjoy your stay without getting into any trouble or annoying your fellow visitors. For example, you can picnic in one of gazebos that are found throughout the grounds, but no campfires are allowed. Naturally, you are expected to clean up your garbage as well. Their website pleads, "What you bring in, you must bring out."

There are no bicycles allowed within the nature area, or horses (although trail-riding would be lovely on horseback there). This is to ensure the trails stay clean and don't get all rutted and ruined by bike wheels, or gummed up by horse manure.

You are welcome to bring your dog, but for goodness sake, clean up after it! Image via.

Dogs are allowed in J.J. Collett but they must always be leashed, and owners are, of course, expected to be clean and responsible with pet waste. This was a bit of a bone of contention with me - it was immediately obvious some dog owners were NOT being responsible with pet waste while strolling through the natural area.

We stepped around (and a couple of times IN) dog poop several times, and saw a couple of dog poo bags flung unceremoniously in the bushes. That one was weird - if you are going to take the time to bag up the poo, why then toss the bag into the trees? Just take it to a garbage! And I know it is hard to clean up dog urine, but that stuff was EVERYWHERE on the trails. It was a little nasty and I kept tugging on my kids' sleeves to keep them from strutting through pee every five seconds.

The wide and open pathways are easy to navigate and very gorgeous.

Other than the occasional pile of dog waste strewn across the trail, the nature area is beautiful. J.J. Collett is comprised of 635 acres of Aspen Parkland, and there are over 18 kilometres of maintained trails lacing through the area. That's a lot of room to explore!

Because it is winter in Alberta, we encountered plenty of cross-country ski trails and tried our best not to step on them. We saw evidence of other sleds being pulled towards destinations unknown, but only saw one other person in the park the entire time we were there, and she was on her way out. It was very peaceful and we legitimately had the entire place to ourselves.

A map of all of the trail found at J.J. Collett.

I am not sure if the quietness was because we went on a week-day afternoon, or if people just don't know about the nature area. It has been around for awhile - it was established way back in 1985 (ahem, before I was born, I'm sure...) - but it isn't really advertised rom what I have seen - or rather, not seen! Word of mouth is how locals learn about J.J. Collett, in my experience. Whatever the reason, it was surreal to have 635 acres of wooded wilderness all to us that day.

After getting fully bundled up in the parking lot, the kids plunked into our long, blue family-sized sled and graciously allowed me to pull them through the gates. We chose a path at random and began walking, hoping to find a hill perfect for tobogganing.

My kids ready for some fun in the snow - after I tow them there first...

Instead, we found a large, open area with a trail map and a port-a-potty, and in true child fashion, my daughter decided she simply had to pee when she saw the port-a-potty. This required me to remove all of her winter clothing that we had just spent fifteen minutes putting on. But I guess it would be better than an accident in the middle of the woods through ten layers of clothing, so I was willing to put the port-a-potty to use.

Once that little episode was over, the kids decided to play around on the snow-covered boulders that encircled the open area while I tested out my drone. I discovered that I have horrible directional sense and nearly crashed my drone into the SAME tree about ten times. I got a couple of short pans around the open area, then decided to land the drone and save some of the battery power to film our toboggan rides, should we find a hill.

Practicing with my drone and my new fish-eye camera lens for iPhone (which I don't think I used properly.)

Onwards we went. Down a path, through a gate, and along a fir-tree lined path we rambled, with my son running happily ahead of us, excited to be outside and warm, while my daughter practiced her GoPro filming skills from the sled I was towing. Then we saw it: our perfect toboggan hill! Not too tall, meaning the kids could actually climb it without being carried, but steep enough to provide a fun ride down.

At the top of the hill I practiced my drone skills again. I was using my phone as a controller, and I didn't realize at this point that when you tilt your phone, the drone's camera tilts in sync along with it. So my actual video of our toboggan ride was not good - as we flew down the hill the phone in my hand wobbled and tilted, resulting in a video that makes me motion sick just to watch. Knowing this now, I will A) use my controller in the future and B) set up the shot then rest the controller somewhere flat while we do the actual tobogganing.

A little boy in the big woods, searching for a big toboggan hill!

However, our day wasn't just all about filming rides and operating my drone. We did about six or seven trips down the hill in our trusty blue sled. The fun ended when we had one spectacular crash into the little bushes that lined the path, and the kids got a face full of snow. That was a game-ender! They decided they were too cold and wanted to go back to the car.

We stayed at J.J. Collett for about an hour and a half, and truly enjoyed the peaceful surroundings, fun tobogganing, and exploring through the woods. The kids have already asked to go back, and now that I know how easy the nature area is to access, we will for sure.

My kids loved J.J. Collett Nature Area, so we will be coming back!

If you are not really into tobogganing or cross-country skiing, there is still a lot of fun to be had in the nature area. You can visit their website, which is easy to navigate, and click on the link for 'Checklists'. These lists note all of the flora and fauna that can be found in J.J. Collett Nature Area, and you can use them to design a scavenger hunt or other activities.

I know this post is specific to my home town, so I am curious: what little local, hidden gems do you have in your area?

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