Waterton Lakes National Park is in the extreme south-west of the province of Alberta and is contiguous with Glacier National Park in Montana. It includes some of the most spectacular scenery in the Canadian Rockies, comparable with the better known Banff and Jasper National Parks to the North. It too is within easy reach of Calgary, about 3 hours drive south along Route 22 – the Cowboy Trail.
I visited it for a weekend in early June this year and stayed one night in the Prince of Wales Hotel, a 6 or 7 storey wooden building dating from the 1920s. It is situated on a peninsula at the northern end of Upper Waterton Lake with breathtaking views south along almost the full length of the Lake towards Montana. There are boat trips from Waterton Village on the Lake including to Goat Haunt at the US end.
The park is rich in wildlife, including large mammals. I had several sightings of black bears (often brown in colour), sometimes rather too close, as well as bison and
bighorn sheep. Smaller animals are also common, including Richardson’s Ground Squirrels (gophers) and a family of foxes with their home in the grounds of the Prince of Wales Hotel.
(Scroll your mouse over the photos for their legend, or click on the thumbnails below)
I love the pictures, Roderick. Part of what makes Waterton so special are its many wild animals. Almost like going on safari in America!
I’m especially fond of the little bear. He looks so very lost without his mother. Hope you didn’t get between her and the little one!
And thanks for your first contribution to Travelgumbo!