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Growing zones near Cold Lake: Cold Lake (zone 2b) · Alberta growing zones map

Acreages Near Cold Lake, Alberta: What the Land Is Like

Cold Lake acreages serve the air base and oil sands workforce, mostly on treed lots and lakeshores. Wells depend on glacial sand lenses over shale, so depth and quality vary sharply; boreal wetlands cover much of the land between lakes.

The figures below are regional context for MD of Bonnyville, the municipality that administers rural land around Cold Lake. They are a starting point for reading listings within roughly 20 km of town. They are not a survey of any parcel; a free land report built on the boundary you draw replaces every one of them with data for that quarter.

Water and wells around Cold Lake

Nearby well records for MD of Bonnyville point to completed wells around 47 m deep, with static water levels often in the 11–18 m range. The predominant aquifer on file is Buried-channel sands over Lea Park shale, with Belly River sandstone to the south. These figures come from a Land Intelligence report run on a representative quarter in the county (NE 33-61-6-W4; 363 provincial well records within 5 km), not from your parcel.

Bonnyville country is lake-rich and oil-rich, with many farms sharing quarters with heavy-oil wells. Buried glacial channels carry the best groundwater; the underlying shale yields little, so neighbouring wells can differ by tens of metres.

Before you make an offer, pull the well ID and the last pump test for the parcel, then look the neighbours up in the provincial database: see how to look up Alberta well records. If there is no well, budget for one with the cost to drill a well in Alberta page, and confirm the septic side with septic system cost in Alberta.

Growing season and hardiness zone

MD of Bonnyville is generally treated as hardiness zone 2b, with a frost-free window on the order of 105 days. The zone is read from the Natural Resources Canada plant hardiness map (4th edition, 1991–2020 normals) at a representative quarter; frost dates are a regional table keyed by zone, not a logger on your fence.

Zone 3a with about 100 frost-free days, moderated near the larger lakes. Low ground along the Beaver River frosts early.

Solar on an acreage near Cold Lake

Regional irradiance for this belt is about 6.2 kWh/m²/day in high summer and about 0.8 kWh/m²/day in mid-winter. Lakes and forest bring cloud and shade, pulling the usable figure down from open-prairie values. Winter output is modest at this latitude.

Wetlands, flood areas, and the rules

Wetland density in MD of Bonnyville is best described as high. Notable mapped or commonly discussed flood-hazard areas include Beaver River valley, Moose Lake shoreline, Cold Lake lowlands.

The MD is dense with lakes, sloughs, and peatlands, and most are regulated. Shoreline alterations and drainage both need Water Act approval.

Draining, filling, or ditching a wet area needs approval under the Water Act even when it looks like a low spot in a field. Read how to check for regulated wetlands before you plan a shop pad or a garden on the wet corner.

The rest of the acreage checklist

• 15 questions to ask before buying an acreage in Alberta
• How to search Alberta land titles for rights-of-way, easements, and caveats
• Subdividing land in Alberta if you plan to split a parcel later
• Alberta contractors for wells, septic, solar, fencing, and driveways
• Grant eligibility quiz for farm and land programs that may apply

See the parcel, not the county

County figures tell you whether a listing near Cold Lake is in the right universe. The free land report tells you about the quarter itself: nearby well records, terrain and drainage, mapped wetlands and flood status, hardiness and frost, solar, tree cover, and species observed nearby.

Generate a free land report for a property near Cold Lake →

Sampled from the live report pipeline at a representative quarter in Township 61, Range 6, W4 on 2026-10-08: well depth, hardiness zone, solar irradiance (363 well records within 5 km). Text reviewed 2026-10-09. Methodology.