Smit's Beach

After a week-long and well deserved vacation, I decided I should share our experience with everyone else. Our destination this year (and probably every year here after) was Smit's Beach, hosted by Ferlon and Shelly Smit's. It is located off the Codette Lake which is part of the Saskatchewan River. Located about ten kilometres east and two kilometres north of Codette.

The village of Codette has a Co-op gas station and service centre and the Codette Hotel. Adjoining the hotel is a confectionary store which carries some dairy, soups and other necessities. Only a short drive for emergency supplies or gas.
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Nipawin is only a short fifteen minute drive if you need to shop at one of the many larger stores there, such as The Bargain Shop, Extra Foods or the Co-op Grocery Store, just to name a few.

The first thing you see coming down the hill is the Store/Office, where you check in and pay for your site or you can buy various things from fishing tackle, paper towel, motor oil to candy ,ice cream, chips, pop, toys and ice.They also collect many antiques that are very interesting to see. One could spend a lot of time ogling over the old glass milk bottles, tools and gadgets. Rental prices are $15/night plus GST for a serviced site or $9/night plus GST for un-serviced.
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When we first checked in at Smit's Beach, one of the first things we noticed was a lack of mosquitoes, not that I'm complaining. It was a nice change from having to wear tons of bug repellent only to have it wash off when one went swimming. The bug repellent came with us but was not used, as you can see in the picture. It sat on the picnic table until dusk when it was almost needed

After NOT applying bug spray, my daughter and I went hiking to the boat launch which was quite busy this last week. In the water near the launch we saw many young fish which we later learned were perch. Melissa wanted to catch
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some in a small net but was told no by me. I'm not much into small squirmy things as pets. I'm more into cats or dogs, which are also allowed at Smit's providing they're on leashes.

We went swimming in the lake on one of the hot days when the water was down so there was actually a good sized beach. The water levels rise and fall as the river changes but there is always one good place on the beach at "The Point" with a lot of interesting looking driftwood. Quite a few seasonal campers took to decorating their sites with the driftwood. Some children had fun making this little sand castle on the beach.
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While we were having coffee one morning, we encountered this little visitor hanging from a tree, chittering at our dogs and looking for munchies. He hung onto the tree for about ten minutes before giving up on getting any goodies from us, but not before I snapped this photo. (right)

There are two playgrounds for kids with one having a net for volleyball or badminton, both parks have monkey bars, swings and teeter-totters for the little ones. My niece is having fun on the monkey bars in one of the parks.
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The boat launch was busy toward the end of the week having a long weekend coming up, many took advantage to fish for "The Big One". I've heard that Codette Lake is home to some good sized fish and I believe there's an area by the boat launch to clean your fish. One day launches cost $1/day or $10 for the season.

There are two cabins that can be rented for about $60/night. One might think it's a little expensive until you look at the inside of it. Shelly took the time to show me one of them but unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me to take pictures of the inside. They feature two bedrooms plus a loft bedroom, propane fireplace, indoor bathroom, fridge and hot plate. Dishes are also provided for your convenience. More pictures can be seen at the website.
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Smit's Beach offers boat and peddle boat rentals for a fairly reasonable fee. I never actually got to try it as I do like my feet on the ground, but I seen some people having an absolute blast on them. Call Ferlon or Shelly for pricing details at (306) 862-3986.

So if it's rainy or sunny, Smit's Beach is sure to fun for all ages. Below are some more pictures of various parts of Smit's Beach.

Jo Lukinchuk