Waterton Lakes National Park

We knew that exploring Waterton Lakes National Park was going to be on our list of things to do during our trip to Glacier National Park. Normally the Chief Mountain customs border entry is open, but when we visited in summer of 2022 it was closed and so we had to go through the Carway/Piegan border entry. It opens at 8 AM and closes at 6 PM and the location added some time to our travel. With only 7-8 hours to explore the park, we had a very specific list of things to see.

We decided to drive to see Red Rock Canyon and Blakiston Falls first. Red Rock Canyon is immediately adjacent to the parking lot. There seems to be a loose use of the word “canyon” as the attraction is a small stream running between red banks. The juxtaposition between the red walls of the riverbank and the blue and grey rocks in the riverbed makes for an interesting and beautiful view.

Blakiston Falls is a short 1 km (.6 miles) hike. The falls were tall and beautiful with 2 viewing platforms. While hiking we were surprised by a deer walking in the river.

As we left the parking lot at 10:30 am, directly on our right, there was a bear foraging for berries in the field.

Down in the little resort town of Waterton there are many lodging accommodations restaurants and shops. We stopped in at the visitor center where there are many educational displays including a display of different animal feces- A wonderful opportunity to learn what might be on the same hiking trail as you. From there we walked up the road to Cameron Falls. This waterfall has an upper viewing deck as well as a lower viewing deck. This waterfall is a very tall and somewhat wide waterfall that seems to just slide down the mountain. From the lower viewing point, the Play the waterfall flows in a crisscross pattern almost looks like a piece of contemporary artwork.

As a sidenote we have now learned that dogs are allowed in most Canadian national parks. I also am seeing a huge difference between the viewing platforms in Waterton versus Glacier. In Waterton the waterfalls are protected by rails, discouraging anyone from veering off the path. In Glacier, we saw very few rails and most people rock scrambled up and down the sides of every waterfall allowing us for a more natural interaction with nature.

As we drove through town to get our afternoon boat tour tickets we saw a line for the BeaverTails Pastry shop. We love trying local pastries- especially in other countries! We got the Beaver Dog and a Killaloe Sunrise. This was a hotdog in their famous pastry and a pastry with cinnamonsugar on top with a lemon wedge on the side. Both were delicious and we highly recommend this as a stop for a unique treat.

After our quick snack we jumped back in the truck for a drive out to Cameron Lake. Cameron Lake is one of the jewels of this park. With Mt. Custer as a snowfield backdrop and so many water activities available, this is a wonderful place to stop and make some memories.

We hurried back to Waterton Lake to grab our boat tour. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and we had great seats at the back of the boat. Some things we learned on our tour:

-At over 400’ deep, Waterton Lake is the deepest lake in the Canadian Rockies.

-The lake is 55° and fed by 3 active glaciers and several snow melts.

-A glacier can be reclassified as a “snow pack” if they loose their ability to move.

-In 2017 approximately 70% of the forested area of the park burned.

-Waterton Park is a natural unesco site.

Although we had to hurry our way through Waterton Lakes National Park, we felt it was a day well spent.