The Cameron Lakeshore Trail was on my list of places to hike when visiting Waterton, and the lake itself is so beautiful. There's a small concession and shop with rentals, and lots of public washrooms. There's a dock and the lake was full of paddle boards, boaters and swimmers at the shallow end near the beach. We hiked the trail with friends who had done it years prior, and it's about a flat 3 km round trip out and back route, to a lookout that's across the lake from a meadow where grizzly bears frequent. The idea of safely viewing animals across the water was very appealing so we set out on a warm afternoon to check it out.
The Parks Canada website listed this trail as "good condition" when we went, and I will tell you, it was certainly not. The trail was full of muddy sections, with some mud puddles that submerged our shoes. Our only guess is that the water came down the mountain during the recent heatwave, as it hadn't rained in the area for quite some time. After about 15 or 20 minutes of hiking the wide trail became incredibly overgrown and narrow, and my legs were scratched from pushing through all the plants that have begun to grow over the trail. In the sections where the brush had narrowed the trail, we got destroyed by mosquitos and horseflies. Even with bug repellent it was a struggle. The end view at the trail was lovely, but honestly not worth the mud and bushwacking to get there. If Parks Canada and the Waterton tourism site keep promoting this trail as "easy", it really needs some maintenance and grooming to help make it more enjoyable and easier to navigate. read more