That evening after passing the Canada border – we headed North towards Waterton Lakes National Park and enjoyed snapping some pictures at a rest stop where we had awesome views of the mountains we’d be exploring! We couldn’t wait to see them all close up! So pretty!
Then we headed to Waterton where we hoped to find a campsite, but unfortunately all the campgrounds were FULL. So we opted for plan B, which was to camp in one of two privately owned campgrounds. We went to the one closest, but it was obvious that there would be a LOOOONG wait to get in, because there was literally a funeral procession of cars waiting to check in. So we decided to drive a little further to see if the other campground was available. Plus the first campground had signs posted of a bear siting the night before, so our confidence in the bear NOT reappearing the next night wasn’t too high.
So we ended up at the Crooked Creek campground, which was not ideal, but it had showers (which we were all in desperate need of) and we were able to drive right in! Score. The camping was more like RV camping where you were RIGHT next to your neighbors, but all we needed was a good nights sleep – so it worked out just fine. I warmed up some potato soup for dinner, we all went and took showers, and then headed right to bed.
The next morning, we woke up, had breakfast, and broke camp as quickly as we could (which is usually a 1.5 – 2 hour affair) and then we headed into Waterton to spend the day exploring! We were just in awe with the views as we drove in! Just gorgeous!
A view of lower Waterton Lake
Middle Waterton Lake
I’ve added staying at that awesome hotel overlooking the lake on my bucket-list as well. So pretty!
After paying our $20 entrance fee, we headed into the park and our first stop was to this waterfall. I believe it was Bertha Falls – but I could be wrong. It literally was right off the road. We also ended up dropping our trailer off down the street from here, so that we could explore the rest of the park without lugging that big heavy thing around everywhere. Parking is near impossible to find with that thing! We just hoped we wouldn’t get a ticket for leaving it parked on the street!
Then we drove over to Upper Waterton Lake which was completely deserted. We were the only people there and enjoyed the quiet peacefulness while we took a few pictures.
From there we decided to drive the Alkamina Parkway which took us up to Cameron Lake. We saw some great views as we drove through the canyon.
When we got to Cameron Lake we discovered they had some paddle boats or canoes you could rent and we decided to get a paddle boat for an hour to explore the lake. The kids loved it, but it made my knees hurt so bad that I only lasted about 10 minutes. Luckily Adam is super tough and was able to help paddle the kids around.
Unfortunately the weather turned a bit COLD on us mid ride, and the winds came up which made steering the boat a bit more difficult. We were all grateful for Adam’s strong legs to get everyone back to shore!
We had to take turns out on the paddle boat, since this little guy wouldn’t fit – but we had fun hanging out on the beach.
Then after boating we headed back down the canyon into town for lunch! That post coming up next.
