Barrier Lake Boat Rentals operated by Kananaskis Outfitters - Kananaskis

Boat was good but people need to carry it themselves a long way to the water and it is really HEAVY!

Great prices. Helpful staff. Convenient location. You have to carry to boat to the launch though.

Was an awesome tour. Joel was a great guide. Good information was shared and we felt very safe on the water. I would definitely recommend these guys.

scenic and fresh air. I read the bad reviews and they are mostly from people that have never been on the water and should stay inside shopping malls. Obviously once outdoors, mother nature dictates what is possible and reasonable. This is in the mountains, complete with everything outdoors such as wildlife, spotty cell coverage and quicky weather.

Great place to paddleboard! The lake was very calm that day and the prices were good. The rental place was just a bit far away from the lake but otherwise it was a great experience

The Boundary Lake that Kananaskis Outfitters is located on is beautiful, with great scenery and crystal clear water. The lake itself takes about 1.5 hours to canoe the entire space - it is not overly large, and doesn’t have access to neighbouring lakes. However, the outfitters are located around 150 feet from the shoreline, with no assistance offered to carry your 150lb canoe to and from. If you are unable to lift 50-70 pounds and hike to the shoreline, you will be unable to canoe. The 150 foot walk is not flat, as you are required to go up and down uneven ground, with rocks and broken ground en route. This is the first canoeing rental company that I have used that are not only not located right on the shore, but offer zero help with hauling the canoe to the water and back up to the trailer. A pregnant woman and her family wanted to canoe after us, but were unable to as no one could help them haul the canoe to shore and back. For the exact same price ($45/hour) you can go to Banff and get the exact same canoes with access to larger lakes, and no portaging required.

Went kayaking and got blown across the whole lake. Also had to drag the kayaks ourselves down a huge hill - I’ve never been to an onshore kayak rental place where they didn’t help you launch. Feel we were not adequately warned that we would have to fight against the strong winds. After an ton of terrified paddling once we started trying to get back, we realized there was no way we could get back and the boat was taking on water due to waves so we eventually decided to let the wind blow us to the opposite shore after our friend in a single kayak tried to tow us. Our friends tried to get us help and the girl working there mentioned she had to call her boss before they called search & rescue. The boss came and refused to let them call search and rescue because it was “such a complicated process” and “now they’re on land so they don’t need it.” Meanwhile my friend and I were huddled together on the opposite shore shivering and trying to share body heat for what felt like an eternity. Ultimately people from our group had to drive to another parking lot and then walk about 20 minutes to try and find us. If I had been out there much longer I think I would have been in significant medical distress because we were so cold, wet, and stuck in the strong winds. At some point one of the employees mentioned “yeah this happens a lot....” umm maybe give a better warning or have a better process to help people?! The boss was more worried about getting the kayak back and pressured our friends to try and bring back this massively heavy kayak when they went to save us... apparently the people in distress were not a priority but your stupid kayak was?!?!? The salesperson we met at first was nice and we have no issues with her, but not impressed at all with the company. Anyways TL;DR be EXTREMELY careful when using this company, apparently they aren’t particularly concerned with the welfare of the people who rent their kayaks. If we hadn’t been able to keep calm things could have been a lot worse. If you are an experienced/advanced kayaker maybe you’re fine, but would not recommend this place for novices. Remember the mountain lake is extremely cold so it is unlikely you would be able to swim yourself to safety without getting hypothermia. Make your own rescue plan I guess. Edit: Michelle is trying to cover her butt, the vehicle park was not visible from our location and since we were unfamiliar with the area and had left our cellphones onshore we did not want to start wandering and get lost and make it harder for our friends/ S&R to find us. Furthermore, I lost my flip flops trying to land the kayak and one of my friend’s broke, so we did have something that inhibited us from walking - no shoes!! We asked a hiker who passed us whether we should try to walk somewhere and seeing us shoeless and freezing she recommended we find a more sheltered spot to sit and wait for help instead (since we had been waiting on the beach for probably an hour to get help). By the time our friends arrived one (a lifeguard) mentioned my lips had begun to turn blue from cold. Extremely disappointed by your response and hope your “policies” (or lack thereof IMO) change before someone gets seriously hurt. And no Michelle, I’m not calling you personally to hear more of your “alternative facts” - I think we both know the truth of what happened.

My friend and I went with her two children to enjoy some canoeing on Barrier Lake at the end of an afternoon outdoors. While we thoroughly enjoyed the canoeing itself, the process to get the canoe—and us—in the water seemed somewhat disorganized compared to when we had last been canoeing 6 years prior. The employee asked me to help him lift the canoe down off the truck (even though I later saw him put the boat back up independently), and then we had to haul it down to the water. That being said, the truck was about 25 feet from the inclined boat launch, let alone the shore, which was another 30-40 feet away (lake was very low). Fortunately, another canoe was returning, so we were able to take that one instead and save our muscles a bit. Still, we had to hike the canoe back up to the truck at the end. I'm not sure it should be the customer's responsibility to carry the canoe such a distance. I feel like this is a popular tourist activity, and everybody comes with different physical strength. That being said, the canoe and all associated equipment was in good shape. The lake itself was also lovely; the kids enjoyed climbing the sandy cliffs on one of the shores, and my friend and I enjoyed watching the cliff swallows dive in and out of their holes. The price was also reasonable for an hour of canoe time.