Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta

The following day I drove to Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada.  Together with Glacier National Park in the United States the form Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.  The park was dedicated June 18th, 1932.

I'd never been to the Canadian side before and decided to take this opportunity to visit for the day.

Chief Mountain.  I wouldn't have had such a view of this except for the fact that I took a wrong turn and crossed the border at a different crossing than I had planned.  This was a longer, but not unpleasant drive.

Chief Mountain rises 5000 feet over the surrounding area.

After entering the park, I saw these deer moving along the ridge line towards me. 

I'm not sure which of the two pictures I like better.

One of the reasons I went to Waterton was because I wanted to see the Prince of Wales Hotel.  This was another Hotel was built by the Great Northern Railroad as part of the lodge system that was established in the Glacier National Park area.  The town of Waterton lies behind the ridge the hotel is built on.

The Prince of Wales Hotel was built to draw U.S. tourists to the area during Prohibition.  The idea was U.S. tourist could cross the border to have a drink and return to the States after they were finished.  It was built between 1926 and 1927.  It was renovated in 2006.

The hotel really is beautiful. 

Stained glass in the front door of the hotel.

Looking south into the interior of the park.

I really wanted to take the boat ride into the park, but my time was limited.

The Prince of Wales Hotel from Waterton, Alberta.

Waterton is a small town with about 160 year round residents.  In the short time I was there, it struck me as being much like Mackinac City.  This fox was running through the edge of town.

Cameron Falls in Waterton, Alberta.  Getting to see these falls is pretty easy.  You can see them from the parking lot and a very short walk of about 100 feet will get you to this viewing area.  There is also a short walk with a steep climb along the right side of the falls.

I was only in Waterton for about ninety minutes.  I really wish I had allotted more time for it.  There were a couple of drives into canyons I would have liked to have explored and a hike to the top of one of the mountains overlooking Waterton that I really wanted to do, but time was my enemy here as I wanted to get back to Many Glacier Hotel to see David Walburn.