Crypt Lake Alberta Canada

Rated "one of the best hikes in Canada" by their travel bureau, my wife and I completed the 5.5 mile (11 round trip) hike to Crypt Lake in Waterton Lakes National Park near Cardston, Alberta, Canada last week. It is one of the most unique hikes in a national park, with a section of Angels' Landing type chain hand holds (Zion NP), a 80 foot crawl through a narrow tunnel, and a required boat shuttle to reach the trail head.

The hike begins at the Waterton townsite marina and requires a 30 minute boat shuttle to the trailhead at Crypt Landing at a small dock on the east side of Upper Waterton Lake.

The trail has three strenous sections of swithcbacks, with the first one right out the gate at the boat dock, and the trail passes four spectacular waterfalls: Hellroaring Falls at 1 mile, Twin Falls at 3 miles, Burnt Rock Falls at 4 miles, and Crypt Falls at mile 5.

There is a 2300 foot elevation gain on this hike.

A highlight is a hands and knees crawl through an old miner's tunnel on the 800 foot cliff before the Crypt Lake cirque, followed by the cable handline passage along the cliffs before the last ascent to the lake. Fishing for cutthroat trout was pretty fast. The far north end of Crypt Lake is in the United States.

There are only two boat shuttle pick ups during the afternoon, so a time schedule needs to be followed to avoid an unintended overnight bivy at the boat dock. (Camping on the hike was recently abolished in 2008 by the Canadian park service.

We departed the boat dock at 9:30am, arrived at the top of the first set of switchbacks at 10:00 (first picture), continued on trhough lush plant life to the halfway point at Burnt Rock Falls (where the second and most grueling switchbacks are located) and then made the tunnels by 11:30. Passage through the tunnels is tight, and the result is the hand line route to the end of the cliff face. We arrived at the lake at noon.

If you are visiting Glacier and Waterton Lakes NPs, this is a very awesome hike. Round trip boat shuttle costs $18 Canadian.

Kerry

Awesome! Looks like a great hike, and such a beautiful place. Great documentation and photography!:nod:

I love Waterton!!!! I am so jealous. What a great place to visit and hike. I used to go there every year as a kid since almost all my dad's family lived in Southern Alberta. Nice photos....:2thumbs:

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Originally Posted by Scott Card

I love Waterton!!!! I am so jealous. What a great place to visit and hike. I used to go there every year as a kid since almost all my dad's family lived in Southern Alberta. Nice photos....:2thumbs:

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Ahhhh. With the last name of Card, I can see the connection to southern Alberta. We visited the town of CardAttachment 35774ston while up there.

Yep... My dad was born and raised there. I am the great grandson of Charles Ora Card, the founder of that lovely little town. :mrgreen: Nice photo!

Did you eat at the Cobblestone Restaurant in Cardston by chance?

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Originally Posted by Scott Card

Yep... My dad was born and raised there. I am the great grandson of Charles Ora Card, the founder of that lovely little town. :mrgreen: Nice photo!

Did you eat at the Cobblestone Restaurant in Cardston by chance?

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We did not. We stayed in the townsite of Waterton itself, at a place called the Bayshore Inn. Ate at their facilities. Did buy some snacks at the Cardston IGA grocery store on the south end of main street though.

No biggie. The food is good but the story behind the building is better. I too have stayed at the Bayshore Inn. I hope you got a chance to go visit the Prince of Whales Hotel (for those who haven't been there - the big Hotel in the first picture). Neat place. Still Jealous... :nod:

I've taken the boat ride several times up Waterton, never checked into the hike, sounds and looks awesome.
Thanks for posting.

Wow, that looks fantastic! Very unique hike!

Coolness. That portion of the hike along the rock cliff looked fun and the views and lakes. Amazing. :popcorn:

Great trip report! :2thumbs: