Cameron Lake

In late August, we spent a few days in Waterton Lake National Park doing some volunteer stuff (collecting wheat grass seed for restoration efforts and battling the scourge of burdock). In between, we drove up to Cameron Lake. Waterton has restricted outside boats to control invasive so we rented a pair of kayaks and set off down the lake.

You can launch off the dock or the nearby beach. The lake runs basically north-south and the perimeter is 6km (or maybe a bit more). It took us about 90 minutes with some gawking down at the far end. The far end of the lake is actually in the US.

We went clockwise. Much of the north end of the lake (and the drive in) was burned in 2017. The silvered pine trunks are an interesting contrast to the green undergrowth and were full of purple fireweed (not obvious in photos, but amazing in person--like a mauve mist up though the trees).

The north end of the lake was pretty crowded with boaters. About half way down, we left everyone else behind.

Except this eagle that we followed (or chased) around the lake.

It is hard to overstate how pretty the lake was. Clear water, rocky bottom, majestic peaks, yada, yada. Very reminiscent of Lake Louise minus the zillion tourists. The weather was also exceptional, 20 degrees and sunny with a slight breeze.

The south end was interesting. There are a few islands, some ponds behind the shoreline, amazing waterfalls, a bit of late-season snow high up. Watching the mountainside continue down towards the lake bottom is always cool. There are places to get out down here to stretch your legs but no real place to go.

You can hike a ways down the western shore on a path and there are small beaches here (if you want something more secluded than the main beach).

Parks Canada has done an amazing job of restoring all of the facilities throughout Waterton that were damaged (or destroyed) during the fire. All of the toilets and picnic shelters are new, clean, and accessible. Even the pavement was great.

This was definitely one of the best paddles of the summer. I'd totally do Cameron Lake again. If we'd gone with our own boats we would have spent a lot more time down at the other end just enjoying the views.