Waterton Lakes National Park is a national park in southwestern Alberta, Canada. It covers 124,800 acres (50,500 hectares) of land bordering British Columbia to the west and Montana, in the United States, to the south. The park is named for the Waterton Lakes, a chain of lakes that extends into Montana.
The park occupies an area where the Rocky Mountains abruptly meet the Canadian prairie. An unusual combination of mountain and prairie plants exist together in this region. The park supports nearly 1,000 different kinds of plants, including beargrass, glacier lilies, and moonwort ferns. Many of these plants are rare or endangered.
Waterton Lakes National Park contains a large variety of habitats, including alpine meadows, grasslands, shrublands, wetlands, and forests of aspen, fir, pine, and spruce trees. More than 60 different kinds of mammals live in the park, including black and grizzly bears, cougars, coyotes, mule and white-tailed deer, elk, and wolves. The park is also home to an assortment of fish, amphibians, and reptiles, as well as more than 250 different kinds of birds. During the fall, such migratory birds as ducks, geese, and swans stop in the lake and marsh areas of the park.
The climate of Waterton Lakes National Park is warm and moist. On average, the park receives about 42 inches (107 centimeters) of precipitation each year, making it the wettest place in Alberta. Average winds of about 20 miles (32 kilometers) per hour also make it one of the province’s windiest locations. Strong, warm winds called chinooks raise winter temperatures.
Visitors to the park take part in such activities as boating, camping, cycling, golfing, hiking, horseback riding, and wildlife viewing. Prince of Wales Hotel National Historic Site and First Oil Well in Western Canada National Historic Site fall within the borders of the park.
The government of Canada established Waterton Lakes National Park in 1895. In 1932, the park joined with Glacier National Park, in Montana, to form the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.
