 Canyon Creek, Widewater and Slave Lake, “The Jewel of the North", are also on Lesser Slave Lake.The town of Athabasca, "Land of the Whispering Hills", on the Athabasca River has a population over 2,500 and marks the transition between the NWWR connector routes Highway 2 and Highway 55.Traffic volume around Athabasca ranges from 6,000 to 8,000 vpd according to AADT traffic counts at various areas.