Waterton National Park
Where to stay in Waterton National Park
Waterton is one of the most beautiful parks in Canada, and that’s saying a lot. It’s a huge area, but its townsite with rental accommodation is tiny, with only about 30 year round residents and a dozen hotel complexes.
I’ve been to the park a few times before, and always stayed in campsites or lodgings at least half an hour from the park. This time I wanted to be in the town, just for convenience. I booked a hotel about a month before, and paid a little over $300 for the privilege of staying within steps of restaurants and shops. The room I booked for three nights was one of very few available.
As a side note, hotel prices seem to be changing like prices for flights. I checked back for rooms a few times, and the price of the room just kept getting higher as we were getting nearer to the date. (This was using booking.com, where I usually find better prices than on the hotel websites.)
We stayed at Waterton Lakes Lodge, and it was right on one of the two main streets. So convenient, but the room was nothing special at all. (It can be booked for $129 a night in the winter.) After one night there, I looked online for a substitute for our last night. I found a room at the town’s iconic luxury hotel, the Prince of Wales, for around the same price!
But we went with Bear Country Inn, https://www.facebook.com/BarnStore, outside the park at the town of Mountain View. Motel, gas station, grocery store, ice cream parlour, restaurant, gift shop, and post office. We had to go through the town on the day we were leaving anyway, and the cost was about $150 a night. We got a bigger room, a patio, included breakfast, a free ice cream cone, and a free bag of ice for that price!
What to do in Waterton National Park
Cameron Falls
There are many hikes of any difficulty in the park.
One of the “hikes” is just a walk around the town. But the walk includes a spectacular waterfall, Cameron Falls. We just missed the sight of a mama bear and two cubs climbing up from the river into the forest surrounding the falls.
Bear’s Hump hike
In 2017, an intense wildfire destroyed much of Waterton National Park. The townsite was saved, but about half of the trees were destroyed. The destruction is still very evident on the Bear’s Hump hike. Bear’s Hump supposedly looks like a sleeping grizzly bear. It’s a short hike but very steep.
Prince of Wales hotel
The trailhead for Bear’s Hump is directly opposite the historic Prince of Wales hotel, so we went in for a look around. High tea is served there but it was all booked up.
Lakes and Beaches
The day was very warm so we searched for a place to swim. The best places to go for a dip have rocks for beaches. The most popular swimming spot was really muddy, but had a sandy beach. We went for the rocks. Bring beach shoes or be prepared for sore feet.
Crypt Lake hike
That was it for hiking on this trip, but a few years ago I talked my road trip partner into hiking to Crypt Lake. It’s known as one of the most thrilling day hikes in the world!
You have to take a short ferry to get to the trailhead, and to return to civilization. If you miss the last ferry…..you are out of luck. Take lots of water, and fill up when you cross streams.
A ladder, tunnel, and cable to hold on to as you maneuver around a cliff make this a hike to remember!
Watching the skies
Waterton is a Dark Sky designated preserve. It’s naturally dark with its isolated location and mountain ranges, and lighting in the park is reduced at night. There are some designated spots for best viewing of stars or even northern lights.
On the way back to Mountain View we drove to the Bison Paddock which is one of the designated spots for best night sky viewing.
It turned out to be a cloudy night so we just had a close up view of bison. You can drive right in to their paddock.
On our last night around Waterton, we drown to Twin Butte outside the park where there is a cute little Mexican restaurant and corner store.
On the way back to Mountain View we drove to the Bison Paddock which is one of the designated spots for best night sky viewing.
It turned out to be a cloudy night so we just had a close up view of bison. You can drive right in to their paddock.
Boat cruise
On one of my previous trips to Waterton, I took a boat cruise https://www.watertoncruise.com/2022.php.
The same boat that takes you to the Crypt Lake trailhead also does lake tours. The boat stopped at Goat’s Haunt, in the United States, and you could get your passport stamped there. But the boat was not stopping at Goat’s Haunt in 2022, probably due to covid.
A guide gives a running commentary about the park and its history. The story I remember best was about bears in the park. The guide told us not to carry the “bear bells” you will see for sale. Apparently that bell sounds like a wounded rabbit, so it’s like wearing a dinner bell for bears!
Going to the Sun Road
Waterton National Park is Canadian, and on the other side of the US border it becomes Glacier National Park.
Going to the Sun Road cuts through Glacier Park. It’s unmissable.
I’ll tell you about it in my next post!