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A visit to Waterton National Park

 Waterton Lake viewed from the Prince of Wales Hotel

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.

 

Prince of Wales Hotel, Waterton National Park

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.

 

Bear, Waterton National Park

Bear hitchhiker, Waterton National Park

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)

 

Black bear, Waterton Village

Bear cub, Waterton National Park

Bighorn sheep, Waterton - provincial mammal of Alberta

Bison, Waterton National Park

Richardson ground squirrel (gopher), near Prince of Wales Hotel

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Images (9)
  • Waterton Lake viewed from the Prince of Wales Hotel
  • Prince of Wales Hotel, Waterton National Park
  • Black bear, Waterton Village
  • Bear cub, Waterton National Park
  • Bear, Waterton National Park
  • Bear hitchhiker, Waterton National Park
  • Bighorn sheep, Waterton - provincial mammal of Alberta
  • Bison, Waterton National Park
  • Richardson ground squirrel (gopher), near Prince of Wales Hotel

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Comments (1)

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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!

Twitter: @DrFumblefinger

"We do not take a trip, a trip takes us".  John Steinbeck, from Travels with Charlie

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