Waterton Lakes National Park

Lore & Background

The park's origins trace to a suggestion by Dominion Land Surveyor William Pearce in 1886, but no action was taken until rancher Frederick William Godsal revived the idea in 1893. Minister of the Interior Thomas Mayne Daly directed a park reserve be created, and on May 30, 1895, Order-in-Council 1895-1621 established a 140 km² unnamed forest park. Oil exploration began in 1898, and in 1902 John Lineham drilled Alberta's first oil exploration well near Cameron Creek, but it turned out to be a dry hole or produced only minor gas shows, with no recovery of oil. The well site was designated a national historic site in 1965. The park was expanded multiple times, notably in 1914 to 1,096 km² by Minister William James Roche.

Reader's Guide

Waterton Lakes National Park holds significance as the fourth Canadian national park and a pioneer in international conservation, forming the world's first International Peace Park with Glacier National Park in 1932. It is also Canada's first biosphere reserve (1979) and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1995). The park's diverse ecosystem spans four ecoregions—foothills parkland, montane, subalpine, and alpine—and hosts over 1,000 species of vascular plants, including endemic species like Waterton moonwort. Its geology features the rare Lewis Overthrust, where older Proterozoic rocks lie atop younger Cretaceous rocks. The park's history includes early oil exploration, the construction of the Prince of Wales Hotel, and a major forest fire in 2017 that burned 200 km² and destroyed several buildings but spared the townsite and hotel. Waterton remains a year-round destination, with main tourist season in July and August, offering scenic trails like Crypt Lake trail.

Did You Know?

• Waterton Lakes National Park was the fourth Canadian national park, established in 1895 as Kootenay Lakes Forest Reserve.
• The park contains the only grand railway hotel in Canada built by an American railway company, the Prince of Wales Hotel, which opened in 1927.
• In 1902, the first oil exploration well in Alberta was drilled within the park near Cameron Creek, but it was a dry hole or only produced minor gas shows, not oil.
• The park's Lewis Overthrust is a rare geological feature where older rocks (1.5 billion years old) lie atop younger Cretaceous rocks (about 70 million years old).