This campsite had shared showers and toilets, a wash area for utensils and clothes, and a sheltered kitchen with a wood stove for heating/cooking.
BHPian Tgo recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
August long weekend and the parents were here for the summer of 2025. We had decided to give them a taste of everything Canadian in terms of Holidays. The excitement from the previous road trip to Vancouver had died down after a month of its conclusion. Camping is a summer-time vacation experience which is supported by some really good infrastructure for all sorts of campers – from backpacking hitch-hikers to luxury glampers.
Cloud makes the mountains look even more majestic.
The most popular choice of Camp sites is offered through National and Provincial Parks services. Parks Canada manages the National Parks and there are Provincial Parks counterparts for each province. There are two types of sites, serviced – (Electricity, Water, Bath and Garbage disposal) and non-serviced (offer only a pit-toilet and sometimes garbage disposal). These sites offer you a spot to park your car/RV, a picnic bench, and a spot to pitch your tent. They usually limit the party size to keep things under control. Booking opens at the beginning of the season, usually February/March, and the booking sites offer you a map of the site with the spots numbered and mapped with 2/3 pictures of the spot and the surroundings.
With each park offering a different experience due to its location, you need to decide which one, beforehand. Bookings are over within seconds. The usual rate is $40 per night, which varies a bit depending on the facilities provided. An average hotel room costs between $120-$200 per night which accommodates four. Camping is cheap if you stick to the basics, and can be expensive too if you want to flex with your RV/trailers/trucks/bikes.
I had three sites in mind, with the obvious choice being the Authentic sites at Rocky Mountain House or Elk Islandboth were north of Calgary. But since I did not have a backup person to help with booking alternatives, chose to focus on booking Waterton Lakes since it offered the best views both while driving there and during the stay. Our previous day trip there also made it a familiar choice for us to plan the trip. I booked for three nights but ended up cancelling the last night’s booking since my Dad’s friend was supposed to visit us in Calgary. Also, a few days before the trip, I got notified to claim a 25% refund as Canada was running the Canada Strong Pass campaign to promote tourism this year.
We had decided to take the Jeep, due to the space for all the camping gear we needed. Our gear consisted of:
- Two camping tents,
- Two folding foam mattresses
- Three camping cots
- Drinks cooler
- Propane stove
- Bug repellant
- Lamp
- Water bag
- Chairs
Most important part was stocking food for the trip, which wouldn’t spoil and was easy to prepare.
- Maggi, corn and peas
- BHEL Puri
- Ham/Chicken/Turkey salamis
- Bread, butter and eggs
- Cucumber, tomatoes and Onions, chopped salad
- Milk, instant coffee and tea
- Boiled Chan, Parathas and Aaloo Ki Sabzi
Waterton otherwise is a small touristy town. Very seasonal in nature of its occupancy. A few residents there run the local businesses and the rest of the homes are mostly holiday homes. We did have a Plan B of eating at a local joint if we didn’t feel like cooking. This campsite had shared showers and toilets, a wash area for utensils and clothes, and sheltered kitchen with a wood stove for heating/cooking. The idea is to park in the campsite, and you can pretty much walk after that, to any activity you’d like to do, which is Hiking, Boating, Ferry ride to US waters, Biking or the Indian favourite: sightseeing. We did think of carrying a propane heater since pit fires were not allowed due to wildfire risk and also thought of taking an inflatable Kayak which, as turned out, was not allowed (usually not allowed in deeper and windier locations). We also didn’t have any space left to fit these in the car.
The Route to Waterton from Calgary.
We set off for Waterton on a Friday. Wrapped up work by noon, loaded the car, grabbed a bite, and were off by 12:30 PM. The route is simple, head south, Fort McLeod, Pincher Creek, Waterton. Some 280 km chalked out for the day, we gave ourseves a leisurely 4PM target to reach the campground. Exiting Calgary was a breeze southbound and started a bit early. Crossed Nanton past the Bomber Command Museum and in high spirits committed to visit the place on our return.
Stopped at Claresholm for some tea. Turned out a little longer than expected as my son woke up from his nap and needed to be fed and pampered. Headed further down and its somewhere after this, you start getting a view of the Rockies lined up diagonally along the highway intersecting it at an imaginary point beyond the horizon. The haze from the plains makes the view mesmerizing, the outlines of the mountains in varying shades of blue stacked on top of each other. Intensity of the blue signifying how farther or nearer they are from you.
Yellow fields of Canola lined the highway.
Oldman River, near Brocket.
The first glimpses of the windmills on Crowsnest Highway.
Amazing contrast in the skies still promising a good time.
Near Fort Macleod, we turned right (west) for a bit towards Pincher Creek. This is one of the windiest places in Alberta, already capitalized by humans through Wind Farms. From Pincher Creek we took Highway 6 down south again through a small town of Twin Butte. Some really lovely views of the mountains were now unfolding. The panorama showed rain, sunshine and thunder all at once blessing different sections of the Earth below. It also showed our imaginary intersection point of the highway with the mountains, which was nestled in a valley far away with clouds headed towards it right where we were supposed to pitch our tents.
Fences – some man-made some natural.
A sudden change centered around our destination.
A panoramic shot of the last bit of the journey.
We entered the townsite campground with the rain picking up a steady drizzle. Check-in was quick – A quick reminder of the most important rules and directions to find the site. We waited for a bit inside the car but decided, its better to begin unloading. Luckily we had a couple of disposable rain ponchos in the car that came handy. Dad, my wife and I started unloading the car. Our Campsite (G7, our temporary address for the next two days) was right next to a kitchen. We unloaded the cooler and the food straight to the kitchen. Got the first tent out and laid it out. It does take some time for the uninitiated to figure out what goes where and the sequence. But we had the first tent up in about 30 minutes. It definitely felt more than that due to the rain and frustration from working in the wet while the fear of the tent getting wet from inside since the last step is to drape the weather hood on the otherwise made-of mesh (bottom is tarp) internal structure. My mom entertained my son inside the car, making him watch something on the phone.
Entering Waterton in a steady drizzle.
Setting up Tent #2.
Both tents up, Chief Mountain in the background.
With the first tent up, we unloaded the mattresses, blankets and the bags for its occupants, and my wife went in to set it up her way. Dad and I got to work with the other one, and now the drizzle had lessened its intensity. We also knew how not to fight against each other, and this larger tent was quicker to pitch. Staked and ready to occupy we unloaded the car fully and sent the contents of the second tent inside. By this time, we had built up an appetite and needed something to mark the occasion. I quickly chopped up some veggies for Bhel Puri while chai was simmering on the stove. The rain had stopped, and everyone joined for the little snack in the kitchen. Someone remarked how the family next to us was having supper. Dinner for us would be another few hours away.
The Panoramic shot of the lake, as a channel between with the mountains. Ones on the left are in the US.
View of the historic hotel from the Marina.
We wound up after this, packed all food stuff and kept it inside the car, per instructions. Decided to stroll to the lake shore which had a lovely view of the mountains creating a narrow channel through which gusts of strong wind came through, ruffling the water into waves crashing to the shoreline. The wind was strong and chilly. We walked along the shore till we entered the town, and to the marina. There was a ferry pulling in with the iconic Prince of Whales Hotel perched on a hill in the backdrop. The vibe was laid back; campers and tourists were still flowing in as there were a few more hours left of Friday.
After about an hour we found ourselves back at the camp site, slowly unpacking the food for dinner. Parathas, sabzi, chutney and some Dahi were doled out one plate at a time, as the cook had to limited resources to warm and keep the food warm. We kept our son occupied with some cartoons as the goal was not to get him to wet his clothes, which from experience, leads to a ruined vacation pretty fast.
Unpacking for dinner.
10pm marked the beginning of quiet hours for the campground, and we were in our tents by then. Remembered we had totally forgot to set-up the cots in the second tent. Did that, settled down and tried to call it a night. It wasn’t easy for my mom or my wife. I could hear Dad was the first one to sleep, followed by my son. It was probably me next. Our tents were next to the bins on one site and the camp entrance on the other, and people were still driving in at that late an hour. The driving all day and tent pitching helped me conk-off quickly, or at least I didn’t struggle.
Continue reading about Tgo’s camping road trip for BHPian comments, insights and more information.
