Google, nature group to put Edmonton-area lake on the trail-view map

A small lake near Edmonton is the start of something big for the Nature Conservancy of Canada and Google.

The NCC and Google are mapping a trail view around Coyote Lake, 100 kilometres southwest of Edmonton.

"Many of our supporters love the outdoors but are not always able to experience them directly," said NCC spokeswoman Carys Richards.  

"This will provide another avenue for them to see and experience our conservation work."

It's the first of 14 NCC sites that will be mapped across the country this summer by Google Trekker.

On Monday, a hiker with the NCC was outfitted with a 29-kilogram camera mounted in a backpack.

The camera, equipped with 15 lenses, shoots pictures every 2.5 seconds, capturing a 360-degree view of the landscape.

Trekker is used to capture images in places that can't be reached by the usual Google street-view vehicles.

The trail to be mapped is part of a 320-acre property that was donated to NCC in 1996 by Eric and Doris Hopkins. 

The couple had purchased the land 24 years earlier through a Canadian Pacific Railway auction.

They built a house on the lakeshore and lived there for three decades before ensuring it would be protected in its natural state forever.

The protected property has since expanded to include 2,100 acres. 

Coyote Lake is one of the richest biological areas in Alberta, Richards said.

The lake is in a transition zone between the mixed wood boreal forest and the native parkland, and rolling hills of the area provide habitat for a variety of mammals, birds and plants.

The property is always open to hikers and bird watchers.