Waterton Lakes National Park (Part 1)

Following my visit to Pincher Creek and area, I continued to Waterton Lakes National Park for a few days. Waterton is about 45 minutes south of Pincher Creek and sits on the Alberta/Montana border. Across the US border is Glacier National Park.

I had visited the Park several times as a child and once as an adult. However, that last trip was quite a few years ago. I had many great memories of Waterton and looked forward to returning with my camera.

Overlooking the town of Waterton is the iconic Prince of Wales Hotel. Built in 1927, it was designated a Canadian National Historic Site in 1992. Fortunately it was spared when, a few years ago, a forest fire burned much of Waterton Lakes National Park.

Iconic buildings aside, Waterton Lakes NP has no shortage of natural beauty. While a combination of smokey air and large swaths of burnt-out trees, left behind from the forest fire a few years ago, made capturing grand vistas challenging, there was still lots of interesting subject matter to photograph.

Just as they were in the Pincher Creek area, wildflowers were blooming prolifically.

One plant I found very interesting, largely as I had never seen anything like it, was Beargrass. I actually wasn’t able to identify it until after I got home and did some research. Despite looking like some kind of grass when not flowering, it is actually a member of the lily family. The plant grows 2 to 3 feet high (60 to 90 cm). The flowers and flower stalks are often fed upon by elk while the tender basil leaves are a favorite of bears. Of particular interest is that the plant does not necessarily flower every year. In fact, sometimes it only flowers every 5 to 7 years. I ended up taking quite a few photos of Beargrass just because I found it such an interesting looking plant.

The park has lots of waterfalls, including Cameron Falls right in the townsite.

One great location is Red Rock Canyon. One look at the rock through which the stream tumbles and flows, and you know where the name came from.

While I didn’t spend a lot of time trying to capture wildlife photos, I still came away with a number.

In Part 2 of my visit to Waterton, I will share some of the landscape photos that I took.