When the water level recedes in the fall, vast sand flats are exposed and dry out, becoming vulnerable to the strong westerly winds that sweep through the lower Athabasca Valley.

In winter, these winds blow the sand and silt down the valley, forming two large dune islands near the northwest shore of Jasper Lake.

In the lee of the dunes, mature clumps of spruce and balsam poplar have gained a stronghold, with colonizing grasses, rose bushes and willows.

From southeast to southwest:[2] Northwest to northeast: The Canadian National Railway skirts the northern shore of the lake.

This area has been the site of many CN publicity photographs—including of the Super Continental[3][4]—through the years, and it is still popular with photographers, railfans, the present-day Canadian and its advertisers and passengers.