Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park - Part 1
/Waterton Lakes National Park - Where Prairie Meets the Mountains
We spent the night in the Lethbridge Walmart parking lot and slept poorly due to nearby construction noise. Hard to complain though… after all, it was free. The night’s low was in the mid-40s… chilly, but tolerable. The plan for the day was to visit and camp at Canada’s Waterton Lakes National Park. We’re getting the most out of our annual Canadian parks pass.
Back on Alberta-5, we were still traveling across flat prairie land, but in the hazy distance we could barely make out mountain peaks.
We stopped in the small town of Carston for gas and stumbled upon the Fay Wray fountain. Fay Wray, famous for being in King Kong’s grasp on the top of the Empire State Building, was a Carston hometown girl who made it big.
Pastoral scenes, cattle grazing, farms and rolling hills dominated. As we neared the mountains, the prairie disappeared and we entered Waterton Lakes National Park with a view of Waterton Lower Lake.
We passed beautiful lakes scenes and spied the iconic Prince of Wales Hotel in regal splendor perched high on a bluff.
We entered the quaint little mountain town of Waterton Lakes and were surprised, to say the least, when the only national park campground still open was smack dab in the center of town. We waited in a long line for nearly two hours for a first-come/first-serve campsite assignment. ($34.50/night including electric and GST). The facilities were nice with lots of hot showers and flush toilets. No campfires were allowed. The campsites were a bit cramped, but we were assigned a site near the Upper Waterton Lake shore which was lovely.
Waterton Lakes is a national park as well as a UN-designated biosphere reserve. From the Waterton-Glacier brochure we learned that Canada and the USA “recognized the worldwide importance of their two national parks (Waterton Lakes NP & Glacier NP)… and united to create the world’s first International Peace Park in 1932 to share responsibility for its care and protection.” The Peace Park celebrates and symbolizes the peace and friendship between Canada and the USA along its unguarded border. It’s also a World Heritage Site and the first transboundary International Dark Sky Park.
Once settled in, we walked a short distance to the Visitor Center and then into town. There are a few shops and restaurants, but compared to Jasper and Banff, it was very small and laid back. We think there’s usually more going on in the busier summer months. Many shops were getting ready to close for the season. Lucky for us, Big Scoop was still open and lucky for me, they had maple walnut ice cream.
There are several bicycle and walking paths around town and after the cone, it seemed prudent to walk along the lake shore. The Prince of Wales dominates the view most everywhere, and we decided it was on the ‘must check out’ list for the next day.
Back to the campsite for dinner. A stiff breeze off the lake had kicked up and cooking on the propane stove was a bit of challenge, but manageable. We read and wrote for awhile and then around 10PM, we headed down to the lake for a quick peek at the clear sky. Though there was ambient light from the campground and town, it was dark enough to admire the stars…Orion stole the show.
We extended our stay another night so we could explore the park a bit more. Several hikes looked interesting, but feeling lazy, we drove along the 9-mile scenic Red Rock Parkway to walk the Blakiston Falls Trail (1.2 miles). The packed dirt trail led through a burn area from six years ago. The area showed healthy new growth midst charred, bare trees.
Clusters of snowberries contrasted with end-of-season bright red rose hips along the trail. The last of the summer’s purple harebells swayed in the breeze.
The Blakiston Falls weren’t all that spectacular, but the multi-level viewing areas overlooking the falls and the Blakiston Creek were great.
The paved Red Rock Canyon Trail (.5 miles) was paved and looped up along the canyon walls then down along the Blakiston Creek bed.
On the way back to town we made good on our promise to check out the Prince of Wales. We walked a steep dirt path up to the bluff upon which the hotel sits. Built in 1926-27 by the Great Northern Railway, the hotel was named for Prince Edward, then Prince of Wales, who was touring Canada at the time. It was hoped that the young prince would stay at the hotel thus garnering some free publicity. He stayed elsewhere, but the name stuck. A bit of trivia… this is the same Prince Edward who later as King Edward VIII, abdicated the throne in 1936.
The Prince of Wales is considered one of Canada’s grande-dame railway hotels. Built in a ‘Rustic architectural style’, the hotel features Swiss chalet elements which is also evident in several other buildings within Waterton. The hotel was declared a National Historic Site of Canada in 1992.
We walked around the grounds and enjoyed a great view of the Waterton townsite across the Upper Waterton Lake, but the strong winds just about blew us away.
Inside, we settled in the lounge for a drink and to get warm. Afterwards we checked out the Royal Stuart Dining Hall with its wall of windows overlooking the lake. The menu was limited for the Prince of Wales, too, was closing soon for the season.
On our way back down the hill to Blanche, we spotted a small herd of bighorn sheep on the opposite hillside. By the time we were back in the van and headed back to the campground, the herd had made it way down to the road. We got an up close and personal view of the sheep as they lingered along and across the road.
Join us next time as we cross the Canada-USA border and travel the Going-to-the-Sun Road through the US section of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. It’s pretty chilly… layer up!