Cynthia, CA 🇨🇦 Closed Airport
CA-0413
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- ft
CA-AB
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Loading...GPS Code: Not available
Local Code: Not available
Location: 53.216408° N, -116.084901° E
Continent: NA
Type: Closed Airport
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The exact closure date is not officially documented. However, the airport was likely delisted from official Canadian aviation publications prior to the mid-1990s. The identifier CA-0413 is not found in Canadian Flight Supplements from 1995 onwards, suggesting it was decommissioned for public use around or before that time. Such private airstrips often fall into disuse and are officially closed without a specific public announcement.
Economic reasons are the most probable cause for closure. The airport was a small, private airstrip located in a region dominated by the oil and gas industry. Airstrips like this are typically built to support specific exploration or extraction projects. The closure was likely due to the completion of the project it served, the company ceasing local operations, or a shift to more cost-effective transportation methods like helicopters or the newly developed road infrastructure in the area. There is no evidence to suggest closure was due to a major accident or military conversion.
The physical runway is still visible in satellite imagery as a cleared dirt and grass strip. However, it is officially closed and appears to be unmaintained for aviation purposes. There are no visible markings, windsocks, hangars, or other airport infrastructure. The land is privately owned, likely by an energy or land management company, and the former airstrip may now be used as an access road, equipment staging area, or simply left fallow. It is not a functional or registered airport.
Wolf Lake Airport had local, industrial significance rather than broad historical importance. It served as a private aerodrome supporting oil, gas, and possibly forestry operations in the remote parts of Brazeau County, Alberta. Its primary function was logistical support, facilitating the transport of personnel (engineers, geologists, work crews), light cargo, and critical equipment to and from the work sites near Cynthia. The aircraft operating from the strip would have been small, rugged propeller planes capable of using a short, unpaved runway, such as a Cessna, Piper, or de Havilland Beaver.
There are no known plans or prospects for reopening Wolf Lake Airport. Reopening would be contingent on a new, specific industrial need in the immediate vicinity that would make a private airstrip economically viable. Given the extensive road network that now serves the region and the proximity of larger, publicly accessible airports like Drayton Valley Industrial Airport (CYDV), the likelihood of this specific strip being reactivated is extremely low.
Kept mowed by local flying club.