What you need to know about Waterton Lakes National Park

🏔️ What is Waterton Lakes National Park?

This is a Canadian national park located in Alberta. It shares a border with Montana & Glacier National Park. In 1932 Waterton was combined with the Glacier to form the world's first International Peace Park.

🏔️ Why you should go:

This national park shares the same beauty its neighbour Glacier has, as well as the other known and loved parks in Canada (Banff, Jasper & Yoho). It offers prairie views where you can visit buffalo & mountain views that are perfect for hiking. There are tons of lakes here, as the name suggests which makes it a perfect place to visit in the summer if you love swimming! This park only gets 500,000 visitors a year compared to Glacier that gets 3 million & Banff that gets 2 million!

🏔️ How long do you need?

You could spend anywhere from a weekend to a a week exploring here if you love hiking & camping. It has 9 backcountry campgrounds, one main campground suitable for RVs & plenty of hotels.

Things to know:

• Its 3 hours from Calgary which is the closest international airport.

• There are NO services in the park during the off season (no gas or restaurants) so plan accordingly! Off season is September - May.

• The park experiences strong winds, with an average daily velocity of 30 km/hr. It's especially windy during spring and fall, with wind speeds sometimes reaching 150 km/hr.

• Bear spray is required on all trails.

• This park isn’t as built up as Banff or Jasper. It does have shops and restaurants but with limited options. This is a great park for really enjoying nature!

• It has a hike ranked as one of the most thrilling in the world!