The Goat Haunt area of Glacier National Park will open for the season on June 24, 2023. (Photo: NPS/David Restivo)

By Justin Goulet

Cross-border travel between Waterton and Glacier parks to reopen in late June

Jun 7, 2023 | 11:20 AM

WATERTON PARK, AB – Cross-border travel between Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta and Glacier National Park in Montana is set to reopen for the 2023 season later this month.

The parks have announced that on June 24, 2023, the Goat Haunt area of Glacier National Park will open. Goat haunt is a remote area of the southern end of Upper Waterton Lake.

The area is accessible only by watercraft and hiking trails.

Glacier National Park will offer interpretive programs beginning the week of June 25 at Goat Haunt. Visitors can enjoy talks at the Snowflake pavilion and short guided walks for those travelling by boat.

International Peace Park hikes will be co-led with a Parks Canada interpreter and a National Park Service interpretive park ranger on Fridays beginning June 30. These will take place until Friday, September 1.

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Officials noted the programming calendar for the season is still being updated.

Back country camping shelters in Goat Haunt will be open for the 2023 season.

To access Goat Haunt from Waterton Lakes National Park, visitors can:

• Hike the Lakeshore trail, which starts in the Waterton Village at the Bertha trailhead and leads south to the Goat Haunt Ranger Station. The hike to Goat Haunt is 13.5 kilometres one way, requiring a prebooked return ferry trip through Shoreline Cruises, or 27 kilometres round trip.
• Paddle, take a personal watercraft, enjoy a scenic cruise, or take a hiking ferry. All non-motorized watercraft require an inspection, and all motorized watercrafts require a 90-day quarantine before launching in Waterton Lakes National Park. More information is available at the Parks Canada website.

Individuals wishing to cross the border must have a passport and report their entry to the United States via the CBP ROAM app, and their return to Canada to the Canada Border Services Agency by telephone. Visitors taking a cruise with Shoreline Cruises do not require a passport.

Locke Marshall, Superintendent of the Waterton Lakes Field Unit with Parks Canada Agency said, “Crossing the border by hiking trail or watercraft is a unique experience for visitors to enjoy the majesty of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.”

Marshall added, “We are eager to provide an experience once again for peace park visitors to connect with nature on both sides of the United States-Canada border.”

The Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park is the world’s first International Peace Park and was designated as such in 1932.

Dave Roemer, Superintendent of Glacier National Park with the National Park Service said, “I’m thrilled that we are reopening Goat Haunt and renewing a visitor experience that is at the heart of the International Peace Park.”

He stated, “Goat Haunt is the perfect place to celebrate the long-standing peace and friendship between the United States and Canada, and the shared resources and splendor that we protect through Parks Canada and the National Park Service.”

More information on Goat Haunt is available through the National Park Service website.

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