Waterton Lakes National Park

Waterton Lakes National Park is incredible. We loved this stop on our trip! We weren’t sure what to expect at this destination but we were pleasantly surprised. An environment filled with beautiful mountains, vast lakes, unique landscape, and tons of wildlife. We saw two species of large animals upon arrival – mule deer & bighorn sheep. The park has a Bison Paddock which is essentially a mini-safari through a hilly terrain containing a large herd of bison. The park offers a large amount of hiking trails as well as biking, kayaking/boating, and several other activities. We embarked on two hikes – Crypt Lake and Bear’s Hump. The Crypt Lake hike begins with a boat carrying passengers across the Upper Waterton Lake to start the hike on the opposite shore (17.2 kilometre hike!) The second hike is a fairly strenuous hike with steep elevation, but it only took 45 minutes to climb! This is a park we will definitely be visiting again!

Panoramic view from the Bison Paddock

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Ewe

Mule Deer

Bison Paddock at dusk

Starting view of the Crypt Lake Trail

Beautiful waterfall on the way!

Closer shot

The valley we walked around

Hillside meadow with large waterfall (far-right)

Huge waterfall!

Beautiful scenery on the hike

The tunnel cavern

Climbing into the tunnel

Low ceilings…

Made it through!

Cliffside hiking. There was a large metal cord to the left and a cliffside drop onto the valley floor to the right..

8.6 kilometers later

Crypt Lake.. Well worth the hike. Most of this lake is in Waterton Lakes National Park (Alberta), but the far corner is actually in Glacier National Park (Montana). We hiked to the border of the two parks!