Bears Hump, Waterton Lakes National Park

Facts:

Difficulty: Moderate

Distance (Return): 2.8km

Elevation Gain: 225m/738ft.

Estimated Time (Return): 1 Hour

Description: Steep climb with panoramic view of Waterton Valley

 

I thought I’d start with probably what is the most popular tourist hike in Waterton. It’s one of the shortest hikes and offers an amazing view of the entire Waterton townsite as well as a perfect view of Upper Waterton Lake. The hike starts at the Waterton Visitor Center parking lot and within your first few steps you get a taste of what’s to be a rather steep climb to the top. 

Waterton Visitor Center

The steady, uphill climb has you surrounded by trees and the occasional patch of wildflowers and the higher you climb the better the view of The Prince of Wales Hotel becomes.

The higher up you get the more man made stairs there are which I find some to be quite high and tend to be a bit hard on your knees, especially on the way down. But just take your time and go slow on those parts. Bears Hump is usually the warm up hike Colby and I do every time we come to Waterton. We’ll come out to camp on a Saturday afternoon, do Bears Hump as a short hike and then tackle a day hike on Sunday. That’s our usual routine. No matter how many times I do Bears Hump it always baffles me the amount of people we pass wearing flip flops. The fact that it’s short and the quickest way to get amazing views explains why it’s a tourist attraction but as I sweat and huff and puff with my hiking boots on and my pack I’m always surprised at the wide variety of people we pass along the way. Of course we usually pass them as they’re going down so they’re full of laughter and not breaking a sweat. I never seem to see them trying to get up and what that might entail for them haha. It tends to make me feel out of shape but in reality you are climbing a mountain in 30 minutes so you have to gain a lot of elevation fast. There are a few benches along the trail which provide opportunities to drink some water and catch your breath. The huffing and puffing is well worth it once you reach the top though.

 

The top of Bears Hump is a blanket of limestone rock and you don’t have to look hard to see a chipmunk scurry by. Most times when we sit down to take a rest and take in the amazing views we end up with chipmunks climbing all around us. It really adds to the whole experience of the hike. Sometimes it can be quite windy at the top but so far the past few times I’ve hiked Bears Hump over May and June the wind has been almost nonexistent. It’s hit or miss though and I definitely recommend when you get to the top and it’s not windy that you take the time to appreciate your luck! Every time I hike Bears Hump I take a million pictures and although I take the same picture every time, it’s always different. It’s to beautiful not to want to capture every single time. 

"You never climb the same mountain twice, not even in memory. Memory rebuilds the mountain, changes the weather, retells the jokes, remakes all the moves."    --  Lito Tejada-Flores