International Peace Park

It’s a feeling in the air, a vibe, an energy. You feel good just being there, and the more you explore your surroundings, the stronger the feeling becomes.

Waterton is one of those places. Nestled in the far southwest corner of Alberta, where the mountains meet the prairie, Waterton Lakes National Park is 505 square kilometres (195 square miles) of wilderness mountain and lake landscapes surrounding the town of Waterton. Shaped over centuries by wind, fire, glacial ice and floods, the park’s ecosystem is so distinctive that it was designated a Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations. It boasts the title of International Peace Park too, thanks to the unguarded border it shares with Glacier National Park in Montana. And the activities? Well – those are otherworldly too.

The hiking here is legendary and it’s difficult to imagine a more majestic setting for a game of golf. Photographers, birdwatchers and botanists gather here for good reason. Waterton Lake is a wind surfer’s paradise and a fisherman’s dream. Campsites abound and cozy indoor accommodations dot the town site. There are numerous adventure companies standing at the ready, but if you’d rather wind things down, consider a picturesque picnic, a moonlight lake cruise, or quiet contemplation by Cameron Falls.

You name it, Waterton has it, and it has it the way mountain park aficionados love it best – unspoiled, uncrowded, and unbelievably beautiful.

The drive into Waterton is a journey of contrasts. Prairie magically gives way to rolling foothills, and suddenly the landscape transforms, expanding into a majestic display of rugged wilderness, the likes of which harken back to a time when nature was truly unspoiled.

Waterton was declared a National Park in 1895, and quite truthfully, not a tremendous amount has changed since then. Waterton is very much the sort of place you envision when imagining a quaint and rustic mountain town. The pace is rambling, there is no pretence to any of it, and the major attraction in the park is the great outdoors.

Nature thrives here. Waterton is home to more than 60 species of mammals, 250 species of birds, 24 species of fish and 10 species of reptiles and amphibians. More than half of Alberta’s plant species are found in Waterton and the park is home to a menagerie of impressive mountain creatures. Grizzly bear, black bear, wolf, coyote and cougar can all be found here.

The uniqueness of Waterton has been recognized in a number of ways. It was designated an International Peace Park due to the open border it shares with Glacier National Park to the south in Montana, and also a World Heritage Site, thanks to Waterton’s extraordinary ecosystem. The park is unusually diverse in its physical, biological and cultural resources. It’s also one of the narrowest places in the Rocky Mountain chain and has some of the oldest exposed sedimentary rock in the region.