Two days in Waterton Lakes National Park for us started on the Cowboy Trail highway from Calgary. This route follows 22S through Diamond Valley and Longview until it connects with the #3 in Lundbreck. We loved this drive on a modern 2 lane highway, with hardly any traffic and lovely rolling hills that form the foothills of the Rockies. You get some mountain views along with green pastures, poplar trees and evergreen stands. Plus, it’s only a couple minutes longer than taking the busy #2 highway instead.
As we approached Lundbreck and the #3 highway, the weather was sunny with a bit of haze from wildfires to the west. I decided the weather was good enough to take a side trip west into the Crowsnest Pass. We hadn’t been through the Crowsnest for 23 years and I wanted to see Crowsnest Mountain again.
I was shocked by all the changes in the Crowsnest Pass. The Frank Slide used to be something that only locals knew about before the arrival of the internet. Now it has its own busy visitor center. The villages of Coleman and Blairmore have traffic lights now and the #3 highway is a steady stream of vehicles. A trailer camp fills a major portion of the Crowsnest River Valley. Despite all the additional civilization, I loved stopping at the roadside to gaze at Crowsnest Mountain. It hasn’t changed at all. The mountain seemed to be looking down at the valley and wondering what the heck was going on.
After Crowsnest Mountain, we retraced our route east on the #3 Highway. At Pincher Creek we headed south on the #6 toward Waterton. About 15 minutes before you reach Waterton, don’t miss the Waterton Lakes National Park Bison Paddock. The entrance is right along the highway and you then cross a cattle guard into the multi acre paddock. There is no entry fee and no one monitoring the entrance.
We were excited upon entry to see the bison all grouped around the gravel road not far from the end of the gravel loop. We had to drive for about 10 minutes through the gravel loop to finally reach them. You couldn’t ask for a better picture opportunity. You aren’t allowed to leave your vehicle but with many bison within 10 feet of you, it was quite intimidating and intimate at the same time to experience these majestic creatures with the car window rolled down. At one point several bison sauntered across the gravel road, almost brushing up against the back of the van in front of us. What a great experience.
We arrived in Waterton and made a quick visit to the Prince of Wales Hotel to enjoy the hotel lobby and the Waterton Lake views. Then we set up at the Aspen Village in the heart of the small village of Waterton. The weather was turning partly cloudy with a forecast for overcast conditions the next day, so we headed out immediately to Red Rock Canyon. This turned out to be a great decision, as the canyon area was still in complete sunshine, which really highlights the canyon’s red colors. The twists and tight turns on the road to Red Rock Canyon make it too narrow for campers and trailers. One hill is so steep and has such limited vision that you think you are at the beginning of a roller coaster ride. Lots of fun!
Red Rock Canyon was very popular, but overflow parking is available nearby and provides a great option. From the overflow parking you can walk up either side of Red Rock Creek by opting to take the foot bridge. When you reach the main parking lot area upstream, you again have the option to cross a foot bridge and walk up either side of the creek. However, most people choose this point to descend into the creek. Lots of children were playing in the creek, while others were busy taking pictures.
The creekside paths continue to a third foot bridge, which ends up crossing high above Red Rock Creek. This bridge again joins the two sides of the pathway. As you cross this bridge, you can see families far below exploring the canyon as it narrows and deepens. At this point I returned to the easy creek access beside the main parking lot, took off my shoes and did the obligatory wade in Red Rock Canyon. The water was so clear that it was difficult to tell whether you were stepping into the water or not!
One of our favorite restaurants for our two days in Waterton was the Lakeside Chophouse. This restaurant is a great place for dinner, with their shaded patio facing the water. Trees obscure some of the view, but a few seats get an amazing view of the mountains across the water. We really enjoyed their Mediterranean flatbread, Moroccan soup and Sparkling Raspberry Fresh mocktail. Other guests were raving about their braised ribs. Their Lobster & Tiger Prawn Linguine has been on the menu for 15 years.
Another favorite for us was the Kilmorey Lodge, which is also located along the lakefront a bit west of the harbour. This restaurant has glimpses through the trees to the Prince of Wales Hotel and the lake, plus an unobstructed view to the Bear’s Hump hilltop from the patio. Here we enjoyed a wonderful afternoon salad and finished with a delicious Saskatoon Berry Pie combined with vanilla ice cream. Waterton may be a small town, but they have great dining options.
After dinner at the Lakeside Chophouse on our arrival day, we took a lakefront stroll. First we headed up to the point at the harbour. Here you can see animal track impressions in the concrete, which is interesting. You also get the opportunity to sit in two red chairs facing the Prince of Wales Hotel on the opposite shore of the lake. The 6:30 sunset lake cruise was just departing as we continued our walk.
Then we proceeded south along the lakefront pathway, enjoying the water and lake views. Deer were wandering tamely along our route. When we reached the bay at the south of the national park camp site, the winds were calm and the temperatures were pleasant. Here we found two more inviting red chairs.
Next we crossed the foot bridge over the Cameron River and headed upstream to Cameron Falls. We passed a small theater which the park service currently sub-contracts for use in evening presentations and star gazing. After admiring Cameron Falls, we headed back through the small town of Waterton to our accommodation. We hadn’t even been in Waterton 24 hours and we felt like we’d covered everything you’d want to see in a visit.
The next morning we decided to make the 25 minute drive to Cameron Lake. This jaunt hadn’t been a priority for us, as we new the entire area was decimated by the Kenow Fire in 2017. Even before we reached Cameron Lake, we were very happy with our decision. A small herd of 9 Bighorn Sheep had decided to travel in the oncoming lane toward us. Trapped between cars behind, approaching cars and a cliff edge, the sheep decided to trot right past our vehicle. They were almost close enough to touch as they passed.
At Cameron Lake we enjoyed beautiful displays of fireweed taking over the ground cover exposed by the burned out tree trunks. Even in destruction, beauty can still prevail.
One of the things I was looking forward to in Waterton was hiking the Bear’s Hump. This trail has wonderful views over Waterton Lake and the village of Waterton. The trail starts in a parking lot opposite to the entrance to the Prince of Wales Hotel. The hike has over 700 vertical feet of gain in a very steep hike with lots of stone steps. Many hikers can reach the viewpoint in under a half hour, but in my mid 70s I found the ascent to be a bit of a challenge.
Four much younger hikers started the trail at the same time as I did, just before sunrise. They clapped loudly to ward off any grisly bears, based on the bear warning sign at the trail head. I wasn’t too worried though, as the thick brush extends less than 100 yards up the path. After that, the rest of the trail is in the burn area of the Kenow Fire, making for great visibility and limited grazing options for bears. The trail is also in a heavy tourist traffic zone. Plus, it was late August, so there wouldn’t be any young cubs warranting extra protection from their mother.
Still, I was keenly aware that hiking alone without bear spray meant that I might be forced to make a bear back down in order to save my life. Sounds easy until you are actually in the situation and realize you’re an idiot.
By the time I’d reached the 3/4 mark on the trail, the 4 hikers that started with were already on their way back down. Shortly after that, I was humbled by a number of young children happily and easily making the descent with their family groups. At the top, I enjoyed the views even though the wildfire haze was obscuring the detail of the mountain peaks surrounding the lake. I could see our hotel unit at the Aspen Village and called my wife, so that she could come outside to wave. She wasn’t sure she could see me but I could easily see her.
I lingered for a while at the top to recuperate and eventually I was all alone at the top. The haze didn’t clear while I rested, but I did discover a solitary Bighorn Sheep high above me on a ledge. This sheep seemed to be doing exactly the same thing as me – resting in the morning sun and contemplating its next move. On my way back down, I passed a woman running up the Bear’s Hump trail and before I could finish my descent, she also ran past me on her way down. I’m really glad I climbed the Bear’s Hump, but for a perfect viewing experience I will need to watch someone else’s video of the climb.
On our last full day in Waterton, we decided to have Royal Tea at the Prince of Wales Hotel. The royal tea service is provided for up to 6 couples and the seating is right up against the extensive lobby windows overlooking the lake. This should have been an amazing experience, but turned out to be quite disappointing.
On the positive side, you were permitted to have as many different types of tea as you would like. Also, the scones, sandwiches, and desserts were all excellent. However, the experience let us down in two specific ways. First, the magnificent windows resulted in the lobby heating up way too much and there was no climate control other than one small fan tucked in a corner.
The more disconcerting problem was the number of flies. They began settling on the food in significant numbers. Eventually we had to complain. We could immediately tell that this was an ongoing problem at the Prince of Wales Hotel, because a small battery operated device with soft helicopter blades was promptly provided. This stopped the flies from settling, but made for an awkward situation where you had to navigate under and around the blades to get your tea and treats from a table that was too small for all that was going on.
I wouldn’t ever give a second chance to Royal Tea at the Prince, even on a colder, cloudier, less buggy day. The Prince of Wales really needs to invest in proper climate control if they want join the ranks of reputable tea services such as the Empress or Butchart Gardens in Victoria.
After a disappointing tea at the Prince of Wales Hotel, we compounded our disappointment at our lodging in Aspen Village. Similar to the Prince of Wales, our room also lacked any air conditioning and was uncomfortable in the heat. Then two noisy families moved into the adjoining duplex unit. We took a walk along the lakefront to contemplate next steps. We decided that our arrival day in Waterton had been fantastic, but there was no need to stay in Waterton any longer.
At 5:30 pm we booked a room for that same night at the Comfort Inn Calgary Airport North. We handed in our keys to Aspen Village and made an extremely enjoyable three hour drive along the Cowboy Trail to Calgary in advance of our flight out the next day. When we arrived at the hotel, we were overjoyed. The Comfort Inn was the only hotel on our one week Calgary / Waterton vacation that was truly comfortable. Their rooms were clean and their included breakfast was fantastic. Plus they were the much less expensive than the Ramada or Aspen Village.
The next day, after we returned our rental car, we took one more walk along the Bow River Pathway. Then we had a wonderful lunch downtown at Olly Fresco’s and concluded our Alberta vacation with oat lattes from Artigianos.
