By Tim Kalinowski on May 29, 2021.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDtkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com
Waterton Lakes National Park is now open for the 2021 summer season, and park staff are expecting a surge in visitors again this year as more amenities re-open following the Kenow wildfire.
“We are looking forward to another summer season with our visitors,” says Waterton Lakes National Park external relations manager Christy Gustavison. “We are asking our visitors that they plan ahead, that they do make safe choices, that they follow all our guidelines of our public health officials, and that practice Leave no Trace, putting garbage in the proper garbage cans or taking it home with them.”
Highlighting the summer season will be the full re-opening of the Akamina Parkway and access to Cameron Lake after three years of maintenance work following the 2017 wildfire.
Gustavison says there are many reasons to enjoy Waterton Lakes National Park safely and responsibly this year, and the park was looking forward to welcoming new and return visitors alike this summer.
“I think each person has their own reason for wanting to visit Waterton Lakes National Park, and each of us have our particular activities we enjoy doing,” she says. “Some of the highlights of the park are just the diversity of plants you can see, we are just headed into peak wildflower season, and the varieties of plants of different elevations, lots of people enjoy that part of it. The opportunity to view wildlife that is also a part of that experience for visitors. I think it is also the diversity of the scenery– everything from Prairie to mountain lakes in such an accessible space.”
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