Tag Archives: Waterton National Park

nature, Photography

Where the Mountains Meet the Prairies

34 Comments

The area encompassed by Waterton National Park not only contains part of the Rocky Mountains but also some prairie grasslands.

One of the interesting things about this meeting point is that there are no foothills. The mountains end abruptly and for the most part, the prairie grasslands start.

In some areas the mountains end and some forest land starts, but there still aren’t any foothills.

In the picture above you can see both prairie grasslands and forest.

The amazing topographical diversity is yet another reason to visit this park.

Happy Thursday.

nature, Photography

Waterton National Park

35 Comments

Waterton National Park is in the southwest corner of Alberta between the Rocky Mountains and the prairies. Named after conservationist Charles Waterton, it borders Glacier National Park in the United States and is part of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The blue dot marks the park; the grey line just to the south of it delineates the Canada-U.S. border.

Often overshadowed by its more famous sibling parks Banff and Jasper, it contains 505 square kilometres (195 sq. miles) of wilderness and mountains with stunning scenery and fantastic hiking trails among its many mountain lakes.

Upper Waterton Lake

The lakes frequently display the intense blue, green or greenish-blue colours of glacial run-off that is often found in the Rocky Mountains.

We had beautiful weather for our first day of hikes and although it was quite windy at times we didn’t mind.

Nevertheless we’re not used to hiking at 1800 metres (6000 ft) or pushing in windy conditions and by mid-afternoon we were ready to return to our hotel to recuperate before dinner!

Happy Tuesday.