Chaplin Lake is the second-largest saline lake in Canada. It is easily accessed from the Trans-Canada #1 Highway across from the community of Chaplin, between Swift Current and Moose Jaw. Sodium sulfate is mined in the lake which gives it unique characteristics that makes it an attractive place for birds nesting or migrating. The mine stabilizes the water on the lake in an area that would naturally go through wet and dry periods.

Chaplin Lake is surrounded by a complex of freshwater basins, mixed-grass native prairie and cropland, making the area a good spot to see many different species including waterfowl and grassland birds. However, shorebirds are the stars of the show here. The lake is a pit stop for some shorebirds to rest and refuel while others will stay and breed for the season. At times, hundreds of thousands of shorebirds and as many as 20 different species can be spotted. Notably, 25 percent of the world's population of Sanderlings stop here during migration. The endangered Piping Plover also nests along the shore of the lake during the summer months.

Chaplin Lake, along with two other nearby saline lakes, Old Wives and Reed Lakes form an area classified as a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network site. The 42,000 hectares are part of a network that protects habitats essential to shorebird migration. Adjacent to the eastern shoreline of Chaplin Lake is Mackie Ranch, a newly acquired Nature Conservancy of Canada property that conserves 646 hectares of grasslands and wetlands.