I visited the Canadian side of this WHS. I stayed at the town (tourist resort) of Waterton for 3 days, which was a perfect amount of time for me. The park is pretty compact, and your range to see and do things is limited of course due to the border with the USA. The particular reason for becoming a WHS is not so clear and it will obviously have much in common with the Canadian Rockies which are just a bit to the northwest from here. It is said though that wildlife is still more abundant here in Waterton Lakes NP and there are fewer tourists, a conclusion that I can agree with after having visited Banff & Jasper.

Three sights stood out for me here: Bison Paddock, Red Rock Canyon and Bertha Lake. The Bison Paddock is a loop road located just before the official entrance to the park. It's a bit like being on a safari: the narrow road winds through a grassland area, which has iconic views of this park "where the mountains meet the prairie". At the far end, I encountered the group of American bison that have been reintroduced here.

Red Rock Canyon lies at the end of a parkway that is known for its wildlife sightings in the early evening. But I had to work hard to see any! On my first try, I saw some female bighorn sheep at the Red Rock Canyon parking. They went on to climb about at the red rocks of the canyon itself, a great sight. I drove this entire parkway twice more, once every evening that I stayed in Waterton. It's a pretty drive anyway, but you want to see some big animals of course. I finally succeeded on the return drive of my third try: I saw two black bears at different spots. The first one was crossing the road in front of me, the second one was running across the grassland. Never seen a bear running before, they jump like long-jump athletes and are very fast.

I hiked up to Bertha Lake and circled this beautiful pristine mountain lake. This is a full-day hike, 17km including the detours and the walk back to the hotel in town. I was the first on the trail, and later encountered only a handful of other visitors near the lake. Most people seem to do this walk only to Bertha Falls, which is about halfway but skips the steeper but prettier section. The lake has a few pebbled beaches but is mostly surrounded by forest. To circle it in its entirety takes 4km. I was happy to do this, it's a fine narrow trail and the weather was perfectly sunny. Combined with few other people around, these were perfect hiking circumstances.