Alberta Parks, Fall 2023

Red Rock Coulee
	Continuing west, our next destination was Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, but it was too long a drive for one day. So I wanted to find somewhere interesting to stay overnight that wasn't far off our path. I found Red Rock Coulee. It has a small parking lot, and staying overnight is okay. In fact, two other van campers stayed while we were here. Below the parking lot is an area full of these round red rocks.
	As I was walking the cat around outside allowing her to stretch her legs after the long drive, I saw this Prairie Rattler slithering through the long grass. Trixie didn't see it, and I quickly put her inside (me too!) Brad took photos of the snake, and we were thinking of relocating it farther away from our truck and trailer, but decided to leave it alone. It didn't bother us the rest of the night.
Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park
	Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park is an absolute gem! The campground is along the Milk River below a ridge of hoodoos.
	The park is known for its petroglyphs. These are visible on the Battle Scene Trail. Other petroglyphs required a guided tour from the Visitor Centre.
	A view of the Milk River and a reconstructed North West Mounted Police Post. West Butte in Montana is the mountain visible in the background.
Dinosaur Provincial Park
	We wanted to go to Waterton Lakes National Park in the southwest corner of Alberta, but the weather there wasn't good, so we decided to go north to Dinosaur Provincial Park to buy some time. More hoodoos, and dinosaur bones. This view is from the Badlands Trail. There are four main trails in the park, with two outdoor fossil displays accessed on the scenic loop road.
	The Visitor Centre has many fossils displayed, and descriptions of the dinosaurs found in this area. The Royal Tyrell Museum is much farther north in Drumheller, and has many wonderful displays of dinosaurs. We did not go there as we had been there before in 2005.
	Thunderheads brewing near the Red Deer River, which runs through the park.
Waterton Lakes National Park
	The weather had cleared, so we headed back south to Waterton Lakes National Park. I can't say enough wonderful things about this park. This was our campsite at the Townsite Campground. Spectacular views.  I like this park better than Banff National Park because it is just as beautiful, surrounded by the Rocky Mountains, but much less crowded.
	The Prince of Wales Hotel was under renovation while closed for the season. Sitting atop a knoll, it looks southward down the entire length of Upper Waterton Lake. The southern end of this lake is in Glacier National Park in Montana.
	Red Rock Canyon is a beautiful creek that flows through red rock. From the parking lot, we followed the path up the creek where the walls of the chasm deepened into a steep canyon about 100 feet deep (I'm guessing). A bridge crosses the creek and a path follows it back down on the opposite side from the parking lot, making a loop trail.  From here, we also hiked to Blakiston Falls, but photos were difficult to get.  The trail was easy and the waterfall worth seeing.
	The view looking south on the shores of Cameron Lake. We hiked the trail along the water to Grizzly's Garden. We kicked ourselves for not bringing our kayaks that day as many folks were paddling on the still water. Like Upper Waterton Lake, the southern end of Cameron Lake is in Glacier National Park in Montana.
	Brad posing with a drill bit from Western Canada's first oil well at the historic monument.
	Cameron Falls behind our campground.