From Elko, BC, we headed south some more on a winding path to reach the Waterton Lakes National Park.  The road took us through the Crowsnest Pass and we crossed back into Alberta from British Columbia.  We were fascinated by the different wildlife signs. I guess Moose and Longhorn Sheep don’t live in the same area.

Our site was at the Crooked Creek Campground just outside the park itself, and our hookup was just off Hwy 5 where some road resurfacing was going on.  So, it wasn’t great, but it was close to the park entrance.  And they didn’t work on the road at night! 

Officially the park is called the Waterton – Glacier International Peace Park as it shares the border with Glacier National Park in Montana.  It was the first park in the world to receive that designation.  And they are also recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

We had the travel day afternoon plus two full days to explore the park and enjoy the scenic views.  We had 3 special drives to cover. 

The first was to the Buffalo Paddock.  This is a large drive through pasture with a herd (?) of buffalo but they appeared to be hiding until just at the end of the drive when they showed up.  Not really close enough to see but a lazing herd of about 25 none the less.  On the way out of the paddock, we stopped and did a short hike up to an overlook of the area.  Nice views.

Next, we headed into the town of Waterton Lakes and did a walkaround, viewed the waterfall in town and then headed back to the RV. We did see a a group of goats in parking lot on the way to town and few deer outside the information center.

We selected the Red Rocks Drive the next day.  This is an area where the rocks have a high content of iron and with the exposure to the weather the iron “rusts” and turns red.  The drive is about 12 miles up from the park road to Blakiston Falls through an area that was destroyed by fire in 2017 when almost 40% of the park burned.  But a nice hike through the canyon and very nice view of the falls.

We had one more day planned at Waterton, and it was also our last day in Canada for this trip.  We stopped at the famous Prince of Wales Hotel on the hill overlooking the Waterton Lakes!   The hotel was smaller and simpler than the Fairmont Chateau at Lake Louise but still very majestic on the overlook and historic as well. 

From there, we fueled up the Jeep in town and headed up the other drive on the Akamina Parkway to Cameron Lake.  An interesting stop along the way up was to see the location of the first oil well found in western Canada.  It didn’t last long due to the logistics of getting equipment up to the spot and getting the oil back down.  But it was still an important discovery for the future.

At the lake, we did a walk around and discovered some new species of flowers.  Gail has an app on her phone to identify what we found, and the park “advertised” that there were over 1000 species around the area.  I think we stopped and found almost every one! 

Another short walk to Akamina Lake, then back down to town and out to the buffalo paddock one more time.  It was well worth the drive this time as we found the buffalo out and much more active coming up very close to the Jeep! 

We had enjoyed Waterton Lake Park a lot and were looking forward to our next stop at Glacier National Park.  The next day we drove down to St. Mary, Montana via Hwy 6 and on to the border crossing at Chief Mountain.  Being Sunday and a remote border crossing, we didn’t have any delay or problems getting back to the US. 

And we crossed into Montana which is my 49^th state.  One more to go.

A short 20 miles further, we pulled into the St. Mary KOA RV Park and got hooked up.  This is just outside the official entrance to the US Glacier National Park or as I said before the Waterton – Glacier International Peace Park. 

First, we didn’t realize before the trip that this would actually be the Labor Day weekend, and the park was very busy.  And we had some plans to see the park but one of our key places had limited access due to road work into the area.  The only way up to Many Glaciers and Swift Current Lake was via a park shuttle bus or if you tour tickets.  We didn’t know this ahead of time and couldn’t get tickets now for either.  So, we had some extra time to see other parts. 

On the first day after we got settled, we decide to drive the Road-to-the-Sun.  This is the key road through the park and the primary visitor destination!  And the main stop is at Logan Pass visitor center at the Continental Divide.  We didn’t expect to find any parking there but hoped to be able to find some parking other pullouts and scenic areas.  We took off kind of blindly to see what we could find.  And we took the tops of the Jeep to enhance the views and, overall, we were not disappointed.

We entered the park on the east end and stopped at the visitor center there to get our bearings.  It was already later in the afternoon with the crowds seeming to be less and we got a parking spot.  After getting some maps and discussing the road with one of the center hosts, we headed out. 

Yes, the turnouts were full including the Logan Pass parking.  Using the info we got at the visitor center, we made it to the Lake McDonald Lodge and took a break before turning around.

The drive was amazing even if a bit busy.  We were going west, and I think a lot of people were headed back to the entrances to leave the park having arrived much earlier than us.  Again, we could have taken lots more photos, but they still could not show how dramatic and beautiful the vistas are. 

After a quick ice cream at the Lodge and a walk to the lake, we headed back east on the same road.  This time we did get some parking spots at a few of the turnouts.  We did the Trail of the Cedars board walk to see the giant red cedars.  And we stopped at a couple of the waterfalls near the road.  We also got a bit wet with the tops off as a quick rain shower came by!

And at Logan Pass we did get a parking spot!  We took the time to walk through the meadow and take the photo of the Continental Divide sign. 

The next day we drove to Two Medicine Valley about 20 miles down the road to one of the two main areas off the actual park road.  We decided to take a walk up to the Running Eagle Falls and fell in with a guide up the first part of the trail.  It was interesting to hear his stories about the bears scratching the trees, marking their territories, and leaving traces of hair and claw marks. But he was setting a faster pace and going further than we had planned so we parted at the falls area. 

We decided to go a little higher up the trail to the Aster Park Lookout which showed an additional .8 miles.  How hard could that be?!  But they forgot to tell you it was also an additional 460 ft elevation!  At least there were some switchbacks and rocks to rest on. At the top, the views were worth it!  And the feeling of accomplishment as well!  And a total of almost 5 miles round trip!

Since we still couldn’t get shuttle tickets for Many Glaciers, we stayed in all the next day and got caught up on the blog stories and relaxed.   We haven’t really had much time to just chill out like that during the whole trip.

And then on our last day and the Tuesday after the holiday, we went back to the Road-to-the-Sun and stopped at several places we had to pass up the first day.  The traffic was noticeably less, and we got parking at the turnouts. 

We picked several spots to stop and really enjoyed a few short hikes to see the overlook on Lake St Mary and a short hike near the RV park.  We had done Glacier Park well but have potentially put a return visit on our list for next year.

Now we were off to visit friends and family along the road and finally to the end of our trip for the year. 

Should be fun, educational, and a great way to end the blog.  See ya’ next time.