Waterton
Lakes Virtual Field Trip
Waterton
Mountain
Welcome!
This Waterton Lakes Virtual Field Trip is one in a series of virtual field
trips of southern
Alberta. The purpose of this site is to provide an opportunity to observe
many of the things that one would see on a real field trip in this area.
It also provides access to information and data about the area, the national
park and its many unique features. This project was supervised by Dr.
Robert Rogerson,
Professor of Geography, at the University
of Lethbridge.
You can select one of
the following to begin your exploration of the Waterton Lake area
or continue to scroll
down for descriptions of each topic:
| Maps |
Photos |
Geology and Landforms | Biosphere
Project |
Natural Resources |
|
Wildlife and Vegetation |Climate
| Human History |
Tourism |
| Waterton
Lakes National Park
| Glacier National
Park (USA) |
|
Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park |
Prince of Wales Hotel, Waterton
Waterton Lakes National Park is located right on the United States-Canada
border in the southwest corner of Alberta and forms one half of the world's
first International Peace Park. It is not on any rail line, nor do any
major highways run through it. Visitors make their way to this backwater
park because of its treasures -- rugged mountain scenery, beautiful wildflowers
and wide ranging wildlife. The landscape at Waterton Lakes National Park
undergoes dramatic transitions to create some of the best scenery in Alberta.
This area is characterized by a chain of deep glacial lakes and and towering
mountains with irregularly shaped peaks. At the base of these alpine peaks
lies the prairie with its own rich mix of wildlife and vegetation. This
is truly an area where the prairies meet the peaks.
Waterton
Lakes National Park is located in Southern Alberta on the Montana border.
It encompasses approximately 423 square miles. Within the park there are
many attractions such as Cameron Falls and Red Rock Canyon. Click on any
of the links on this page to see more maps of Waterton Lakes Provincial
Park.
One
of the great attractions of Waterton Lakes National Park is its breathtaking
scenery. Blue skies, water and trees are made all the more striking by
the mountain backdrop. Here is a link to a page that will provide access
to photographs of various parts of Waterton Lakes National Park. Take note
that many of the other pages in this virtual field trip will also provide
many beautiful photos of Waterton Lakes National Park.
No
one can deny that this area is rich in in geological and geomorphic data.
The unique geography of the area is formed by 1.5 billion year old sedimentary
rock that was dumped on the 60 million year old shale of the prairies during
the last ice age. This page provides some fascinating information on the
geology of Waterton Lakes National Park.
One
of the ecological wonders of Waterton Lakes National Park is the shared
Biosphere Reserve. This is operated in conjunction with United States officials
and Glacier
National Park.
The data collected at this biosphere reserve is used by scientist worldwide.
This page contains information about biosphere reserves and the data collected
at the Waterton Biosphere Reserve.
This
area is full of many natural resources that have not been commercially
exploited to the extent of the rest of the province. However, there are
some resources that are monitored and used by agencies and this page provides
links to these pages.
There
are more than 234 species of birds, 57 species of mammals and 17 species
of fish sighted in this area. Waterton serves as a wildlife refuge as the
landscape has been protected from the ravages of industry, logging, mining,
oil and gas exploration and ranching. In recent years botanists have recorded
some 900 different species of wild flowers in Waterton, more than half
the number of species in all of Alberta. Prairie plants mix with alpine
plants, plants from west of the continental divide mix with plants from
east of the continental divide and plants that are not found anywhere else
in Canada abound in the area.This page provides some links to information
about the wildlife and vegetation of Waterton.
The
climate in this mountain region supports a tremendous amount of flora and
fauna. This page provides links to pages that give information about the
climate at Waterton Lakes Provincial Park.
The
unique beauty of Waterton Lakes attracts many people every year. Tourism
at Waterton Lakes is a booming business and has been engineered to be non
intrusive. This page provides links to some of the facilities available
to tourist from boating to mountain climbing.
In
1932, Canadian and American governments agreed to the establishment of
Waterton - Glacier International Peace Park, the first of its kind in the
world. This page provides links to pages with more information about this
original peace park.
Across
the border from Waterton Lakes National Park is Glacier National Park,
the American counterpart. No investigation into Waterton would be complete
without looking across the border to the beauty of this American park.
This page provides links to numerous Glacier Park pages.
More
Southern Alberta Virtual Field Trips:
Virtual
Field Trip of the American Southwest
University
of Calgary's Kanaskis Virtual Field Trip
Last updated by Karen Lindsay on 12/18/97