Waterton Glacier International Peace Park

Today was purely a driving day but I passed through two National Parks, one on each side of the Canadian-US border, which made it a very scenic journey. The Waterton Glacier International Peace Park consists of Waterton National Park in Alberta and Glacier National Park in Montana and they are cooperatively managed – some of the back country trails even cross the border.

I spent a little more time in Waterton Lakes as I had not visited it before. I was able to drive the main scenic roads and take short walks and stop for photos along the way. Unfortunately there was significant cloud cover so some of the scenes were a little dark. As the name suggests, the main features here are the lakes and their mountain backdrops.

Although I had driven most of Glacier Park’s Going to the Sun Road back in 2015, the eastern section was closed for road rehabilitation at that time and the drive is so spectacular that a re-run is definitely worth watching. For this reason I treated it more as a scenic drive rather than a visit to a National Park and, after making several photo stops in the eastern section, basically drove the road to the exit before taking a short walk near Lake McDonald. The amazing views captured on the dash-cam make the road video a great souvenir.

After leaving the park it was a fairly short drive to Kalispell, MT for the night. The map and road video that tell the story of the journey are here.

Waterton is a small town in the National Park and it’s residents overlook Upper Waterton Lake.Waterton - Upper Waterton Lake
Cameron Lake reminded me a bit of Lake Louise.Waterton - Cameron Lake
This is the view across Waterton Lake showing the historical (1920) Prince of Wales HotelWaterton - Prince of Wales Hotel
The drive to Red Rock Canyon is probably the most scenic in the park (see video) and the rock is certainly red but I was  less impressed with the canyon itself.Waterton - Red Rock Canyon
Glacier Park has everything (even glaciers). This is a view of St. Mary Lake. Glacier - St Mary Lake
The road is a marvel of engineering as it clambers its way across the park.Glacier - Going to the Sun Road
The section of the road west of Logan’s Pass has incredible views (see video).Glacier - View near Logan Pass
Approaching the western edge of the park I stopped to walk to the busy Apgar Village on Lake McDonald to stretch my legs.Glacier - Lake McDonald

4 thoughts on “Waterton Glacier International Peace Park”

  1. Glad to see you had a better day. Hate those days that don’t work out on planned long road trips.
    Hope you get a good view of the eclipse.
    Cathy xx

    1. Thanks. You would think that I would have learned as a teacher that it helps when you actually plan.

      Weather forecast is good for the eclipse but it was last time and that didn’t work out so wait and see.

  2. Finally caught up with you! I’m still trying to watch every video. The scenery is amazing, even on the days that you don’t think so – you really are spoiled by the views you’ve been immersed in.

    1. Thanks for hanging in there with the videos. I agree that the scenery I’ve seen on this trip has been spectacular for much of the time and has definitely lived up to my expectations.

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