Picnic area · Waterton Lakes National Park
A useful picnic stop that becomes the winter road's end.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Waterton Lakes Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Waterton Lakes National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Waterton Lakes audio tourRecorded for this place
Little Prairie Day Use Area“Little Prairie Day Use Area is ahead, a useful picnic stop on Akamina Parkway. Pull into the designated parking for a sit-down break; there’s an enclosed shelter with a wood stove and twelve picnic tables.”
Plays as you drive up to Little Prairie Day Use Area in the Parkwolf Waterton Lakes Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Little Prairie is a picnic area on the Akamina Parkway, with an enclosed shelter, wood stove and 12 picnic tables. It's a good place to take a proper sit-down break on the drive. The narrow parkway can get congested on weekends; Parks Canada suggests a weekday visit or going earlier or later in the day.
In winter, vehicles stop here, leaving about 3 km to Cameron Lake by ski or snowshoe. Cross-country tracks are set between Little Prairie and the lake when conditions allow, and snowshoeing and ski touring are also common. Parks Canada treats the route as backcountry terrain, so decide whether to continue before leaving the road behind. The Akamina Parkway to Cameron Lake opened in 1927.
Little Prairie has primitive dry toilets, which are maintained infrequently in winter; bring tissue and hand sanitizer for cold-season visits. Parks Canada doesn't identify a potable-water tap here and advises boiling water at most day-use areas. The parkway is narrow, winding and has no shoulder, so use the designated parking instead of pulling over on the road.
Wildlife
83 sightingsBisonMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
563 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
146 sightingsElkMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
113 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
55 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 9 AMSighting map
53 sightingsTrumpeter SwanMost seen around 6 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Waterton Lakes. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ModerateWall Lake Trail10.4 km · 4.5 hr · 1.4 km awayA cross-border walk from Akamina Pass to a lake beneath sheer cliffs.
ModerateForum Lake Trail9 km · 3.5 hr · 1.4 km awayColourful ancient limestone makes the lake shore worth the climb.
ModerateAkamina Pass Trail3.1 km · 1 hr · 1.4 km awayA short climb to the Alberta–B.C. boundary.
ModerateForum Falls Trail5 km · 2 hr · 1.4 km awayA smaller waterfall goal before the longer Forum Lake hike.
ChallengingLineham Ridge17.2 km · 6.5 hr · 2.4 km awayA hard ridge climb with the Lineham Lakes far below.
ModerateUpper Rowe Lake Trail12.8 km · 5 hr · 2.4 km awayCreek cascades, a flowered meadow, and an alpine lake below Mount Rowe.
ChallengingTamarack Trail34.3 km · 12 hr · 2.4 km awayCross high ridges and backcountry lakes from Rowe to Red Rock Canyon.
ModerateLower Rowe Lake Trail8 km · 3 hr · 2.4 km awayMossy creek ledges and red argillite lead to a cliff-backed lake.
Sight · 2 km awayAkamina LakeAn easy half-hour detour to a sheltered subalpine lake.
Sight · 2.1 km awayLower Rowe LakeA small alpine lake beneath steep cliffs, reached by a moderate hike.
Lodging · 2.2 km awayCameron Lake CabinA winter stay in Waterton’s 1929 warden cabin.Sight · 2.2 km awayUpper Rowe LakesA meadow and alpine lakes at the end of steep switchbacks.
Sight · 2.5 km awayCameron LakeMountain reflections right at the parking area.
Sight · 4.4 km awayAlderson LakeBlue water, high cliffs, and an all-day hike to get there.
Sight · 4.4 km awayLineham FallsA moderate hike to twin falls beneath two high peaks.
Sight · 4.7 km awayFirst Oil Well in Western Canada National Historic SiteA derrick-shaped monument marks western Canada's first saleable oil.Parkwolf’s Waterton Lakes ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
