Waterton Lakes National Park

Waterton is where the mountains do not build up gradually: the prairie runs flat to the foot of the range and then the Rockies begin, abruptly, which gives the park a look no other Canadian park has. In 1932 it was joined with Glacier National Park across the Montana border as the world's first international peace park, and the pair carry a joint World Heritage listing. A boat crosses Upper Waterton Lake into the United States, docking at Goat Haunt. Trails climb to Crypt Lake through a tunnel cut in the rock and along the Carthew-Alderson traverse, and the Prince of Wales Hotel stands on a bluff above the lake in a permanent gale. A major fire in 2017 burned much of the park, and the regrowth is now part of what you see.

What you actually see

• The mountain-prairie meeting - the Rockies rising straight from flat grassland.
• The Crypt Lake trail - the boat, ladder and rock tunnel to a hanging lake.
• The international boat - crossing the lake into Montana at Goat Haunt.
• Red Rock and Cameron - the canyon drives and their coloured rock.

When to go

June to September is the season, with wildflowers in July and the boat and most trails running; many facilities close from October and the townsite largely shuts for winter. Wind here is constant and famously strong.

Honest expectations

The 2017 fire burned a large share of the park's forest and trails, and while the regrowth is genuinely interesting, visitors expecting unbroken forest will find burnt slopes. The wind is relentless enough to be a factor in planning. It is a small park compared with Banff and a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Calgary through empty country.

Nearby

Head-Smashed-In is an hour and a half north; Glacier National Park is across the border.