Waterton Lakes National Park

Waterton Lakes, Alberta, CA – While visiting Glacier National Park in August, we did a two day trip across the border to Waterton Lakes National Park. Waterton Lakes and Glacier National Parks share the International Border. They joined together to form the first International Peace Park. Anyone planning on traveling across the border should remember to take their passport. We stayed overnight at the historic Prince of Wales Hotel. We hiked several trails: Bear’s Hump, Red Rock Canyon/Bauerman Creek, and Lower Bertha Falls. We also spent time visiting the small town of Waterton Lakes, which has numerous restaurants and gift shops. We discovered that the town has a very nice RV park that we would stay at during any future visits.

View along the drive to Waterton Lakes from Glacier National Park

The Waterton Lakes Townsite from our Prince of Wales Hotel room

Unfortunately, Waterton Lakes has been in the news lately (September 2017) as the fast moving Kenow Mountain wildfire has been burning toward the townsite and forced evacuations. From what I have found online, the park visitor center has burned down, which is the trailhead to Bear’s Hump on Crandell Mountain. As of this writing Waterton Lakes National Park is currently closed, but the majority of the townsite and historic Prince of Wales Hotel were still intact and hopefully will remain so. The fire is still not under control. Once this fire is out and things reopen, this is a beautiful region to visit.

View in Waterton Lakes National Park enroute to Red Rock Canyon

Cameron Lake

Prince of Wales Hotel

This hotel is a historic railroad hotel located in Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta, overlooking Upper Waterton Lake. Constructed between 1926 and 1927, the hotel was built by the Great Northern Railway of the U.S. to lure tourists during the prohibition era. The hotel was named after the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII), in a transparent attempt to entice him to stay in the hotel on his 1927 Canadian tour, but the prince stayed at a nearby ranch instead. The Prince of Wales Hotel is the sole establishment among Canada’s grand railway hotels built by a U.S. railroad company. The hotel was designated a National Historic Site in 1995.

The historic Prince of Wales Hotel

We stayed there for one night to check it out. If not for the historical significance of this building and the phenomenal views of the lakes, we’re not sure why people would stay here. We were disappointed in our room. We were expecting it to be smaller and have the challenges of being built in the mid 1920’s, but the upkeep was our issue. The room also was dark, which could be easily fixed. The bed was not comfortable and the bathroom had seen better days. For a lakeside room they charged $325CA. My recommendation would be to have tea or eat in a restaurant and check out the awesome lobby, but skip the overnight stay.

View from the lobby of the Prince of Wales Hotel

Lobby of the Prince of Wales

Our room in the hotel

The ensuite bathroom was functional but not very clean

View of Upper Waterton Lake from our hotel room

Wildlife of Wateron Lakes

The wildlife in Waterton Lakes is the same as that of Glacier National Park. Keep your eyes open for brown and black bears, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, deer, and moose. In our short visit, we spotted a grizzly bear, a female black bear and her 2 cubs and another black bear. The grizzly was in the Blackiston Creek bed along the drive to Red Rock Canyon and we did not have time to get a picture. The female and cubs were crossing the road that travels to Cameron Lake. We also spotted a male Bighorn Sheep literally on the road to Cameron Lake. There were numerous mule deer hanging out throughout Waterton Lakes townsite.

Female Black Bear on the road

Black bear

Male Bighorn sheep on the road to Cameron Lake

One of the many mule deer hanging out in Waterton Lakes townsite

Bear’s Hump Trail

This short but steep trail gains almost 800 feet in less than 1 km. It travels through forest (which has since burned) on steep switchbacks and steps to the prominent Bear’s Hump outcropping on Crandell Mountain. The trailhead was at the park visitor center which is now gone. We’ll have to wait to see if they rebuild in the same location and when it will be safe to reopen a trail in this region. The trail was worth the effort as you were rewarded with outstanding views of the Waterton Lakes, the townsite, and the Prince of Wales Hotel.

The Bear’s Hump Trail headed up through forest

Bear’s Hump was steep and included many step sections

View of the prairie from Bear’s Hump Trail

Crandell Mountain from Bear’s Hump outcrop

Waterton Lakes townsite & Upper Waterton Lake from Bear’s Hump

Prince of Wales Hotel & Middle Waterton Lake from Bear’s Hump

Red Rock Canyon/Bauerman Creek

We hiked along the Red Rock Canyon on one side of the loop trail. The trailhead is at the end of the road that goes to Red Rock Canyon. The upper bridge of the loop was closed for construction so we were unable to hike a loop. The canyon features gorgeous red rock as advertised. We wanted to hike a little further so we continued onto Bauerman Creek Trail for a mile or so. This section of trail we hiked traveled through forest and offered outstanding views of the region including Blakiston and Anderson Peaks.

Red Rock Canyon

View of Mount Blackiston from Red Rock

Lower Bertha Falls

This moderate trail travels about 3.5 miles roundtrip and gains about 600 feet while climbing through forest to the Lower Bertha Falls. The trailhead is in the townsite near the campground. The trail is mostly packed dirt, but there were loose sections. As the trail got higher, views of Upper Wateron Lake get better and better. You are paralleling the lake until you reach a point where the trail heads sharply inland (a right). The junctions were well signed. The trail switchbacks through heavy brush areas until reaching the falls. The falls were beautiful and worth the hike.