Beauties beyond Banff

“The babe just took off,” says a man in a hushed voice as he lowers his camera.

Half a dozen of us are standing on a roadside in Canada’s Waterton Lakes National Park where we’ve been watching a mother black bear and her cub no more than 50m away.

It’s one of the most distant sightings we’ve had of bears since arriving a few days earlier. At other times, mother bears with cubs have walked right beside the windows of our rental car when we’ve pulled over.

Still, this encounter turns into our most endearing when the cub starts to climb a nearby pine tree. He’s mostly hidden from our view or camouflaged by the pine cones that perfectly match his cinnamon-coloured coat. We track his progress by the shaking of branches and occasionally we spot small, rounded ears and a pointy nose poking out.

“Imagine climbing a tree that quickly!” says a woman in awe. As the cub nears the tree top we lose sight of him until someone notices three small furry legs dangling from a branch. Nap time!

According to Parks Canada, most visitors to Waterton Lakes National Park never see a bear. Maybe we’re just in the right place at the right time, but over the course of three days in May we see multiple mums with cubs, as well as mountain goats, a bighorn sheep strutting down the middle of the road as if he owned it, and two fox kits playing on a sunny slope within walking distance of the town of Waterton.

“Biodiversity is what sets Waterton apart,” says Kris Robinson, the captain of our cruise boat when we drag ourselves away from viewing wildlife to viewing the landscape from Upper Waterton Lake, the deepest natural lake in the Canadian Rockies.

“This is where the prairies meet the mountains, so you’re finding not only unique geology, but plant and wildlife, biodiversity, human history; a lot of human history, and a lot of it’s been recently unearthed after the Kenow Mountain wildfire.”

The Kenow fire was an extraordinarily severe wildfire that started with a lightning strike late in the summer of 2017. Fuelled by extremely dry conditions and 80km per hour winds, it blazed through almost 40 per cent of the park. The village of Waterton and the historic Prince of Wales Hotel were saved by firefighters and water bombers that scooped water from the lake and doused the buildings.

Dead and whitened tree trunks still stand, but thousands of new Lodgepole pine trees are now as tall as the big mama bear we saw standing on her hind legs one evening (likely the same one whose cub enchanted us with its tree-climbing skills the next day).

“Take a look off to the right,” says Robinson, pointing at the jagged pinnacles and spires of Citadel Peaks, as we continue cruising south. “The Blackfoot people, who’ve lived here since time immemorial, called the mountain Ataniawxis, meaning ‘needles in the sky’.”

At just over 500sqkm, Waterton is the smallest national park in the Canadian Rockies but it adjoins the much larger Glacier National Park in the American state of Montana. In fact, the 49th parallel, which divides Canada and the United States, crosses Upper Waterton Lake. As we approach the boundary, we see a linear clearing that’s been cut through the forested mountain slopes on either side of the lake.

In the 1930s, Rotarians on both sides of the border successfully petitioned their respective governments to establish the world’s first International Peace Park. “They came up with the slogan ‘Nature needs no boundaries’”, explains Robinson. “And that’s a pretty good phrase to go by. We’re the only species out here who recognise borders and cut lines.”

Another first was in 2017 when Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park became the world’s first international trans-boundary Dark Sky Park. “On a clear night, check out the stars,” Robinson tells us when it’s time to turn the boat around and motor back into Canada. “You will be amazed … the Milky Way is just a river of stars dazzling overhead.”

More recently, Waterton is being recognised as a quiet alternative to bigger and better known national parks in the Canadian Rockies, especially Banff, Canada’s oldest. Part of the reason Waterton has flown under the radar is because it’s on a secondary highway, not the major Trans-Canada. And unlike Banff, it has no nearby ski resorts, so most businesses close in winter.

That includes the Prince of Wales Hotel that sits on a bluff between Upper and Middle Waterton Lakes. Its big picture windows frame grand views of Upper lake from spring through fall, but in winter they get pummelled by wind and must be boarded up.

The contrast between the rugged wilderness beyond those windows and the bare legs of staff under tartan kilts inside the hotel is stark. We arrive in time for afternoon tea in the Royal Steward Dining Room, where we meet our server, Jack. “For today, you have a selection of nine teas,” he says, adding that he’s come from Ireland to work another season and experience the Rockies in his free time.

Despite its name, no Prince of Wales has ever visited this eponymous hotel, but it’s still regally beautiful, with dark wood panelling, a soaring ceiling and Persian-style carpets. Its green copper roof matches that of the other grand railway hotels built in Canada in the early 20th century.

We sip black tea and eat dainty squares and pastries from a silver tray. “They make it look so beautiful,” coos my friend Jeanette. “It makes me want to go home and make cucumber sandwiches!”

It makes me want to go home and make plans to return. Everything about this park is appealing, not least the fact that it’s relatively quiet. This year, more than four million people will visit Banff, while only half a million will make it to Waterton. I count myself lucky to be one of the latter.

+ Suzanne Morphet was a guest of Waterton Lakes Chamber of Commerce with additional support from Travel Alberta and Pursuit Collection. They have not seen, influenced or approved this story.

fact file

The Prince of Wales Hotel is open from mid-May to mid-September. Rates from CAD $300 ($335). Afternoon tea from CAD $64pp ($71.50).

The Bayshore Inn & Spa is open May to October. Rates from CAD $284 ($317).

The Waterton Shoreline Cruise Co offers a variety of cruises and shuttles on Upper Waterton Lake. Its Canada-US Border cruise (1 hour 15 minutes) runs multiple times daily from early May through mid-October and is CAD $65pp ($73).