Waterton Glacier International Peace Park and Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
708 km
Riding-time estimate
12 h 04
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
On the way it passes Waterton Glacier International Peace Park, Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump and back through Waterton Glacier International Peace Park. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,850 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses from Canada into United States - carry ID and check the toll rules. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Scenic road chapters
Waterton Glacier International Peace Park → Waterton Glacier Internati
This part of the ride is 51 km of Waterton Glacier International Peace Park → Waterton Glacier Internati.
Chapter facts
Length
51 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Waterton Glacier International Peace Park
In 1932, the people of Alberta and Montana decided that two parks that shared a border might as well share a name. Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada and Glacier National Park in the United States became the world's first International Peace Park, a gesture of friendship that grew from a suggestion by Rotary clubs. UNESCO later recognised it as a World Heritage Site, and the two parks are managed together for wildlife, even though visitors cross a border to get from one to the other.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Waterton Glacier International Peace Park is where the day begins. Next is Waterton Glacier International Peace Park.
2. Waterton Glacier International Peace Park
The southern half of the Peace Park is Glacier National Park in Montana, a rugged expanse of peaks, lakes and valleys carved by ice, with the Continental Divide running through its core. The park was established in 1910 and covers more than a million acres, and in its heyday it held about a hundred and fifty glaciers. Climate change has reduced that to a few dozen, and the shrinking of the ice is one of the park's central stories.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Waterton Glacier International Peace Park comes up 66 km in. Next is Waterton Glacier International Peace Park.
3. Waterton Glacier International Peace Park
Waterton Lakes National Park is where the Canadian prairies slam into the Rocky Mountains with hardly a foothill to cushion the blow. Flat grassland stretches all the way to the base of the peaks, which rise abruptly above the lake, and the effect is dramatic. The park occupies the southwest corner of Alberta, and together with Glacier National Park across the border in Montana it forms the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, created in 1932 as the world's first such park, and a symbol of friendship between the two countries.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
133 km in you reach Waterton Glacier International Peace Park. Next is Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump.
4. Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
Imagine a wall of sandstone, ten metres high, with the plain falling away beneath it. For about five thousand years the Blackfoot and their ancestors used cliffs like this one, in the foothills of the Porcupine Hills in southern Alberta, to hunt bison. Hunters spent days guiding a herd, gently and patiently, along lines of stone cairns called drive lanes, until the animals were running without knowing it, and then the lead animals went over the edge. Below, the whole community waited with knives, and the meat and hides of one successful drive could see a band through the winter. UNESCO lists the site as one of the oldest and best-preserved examples of the method anywhere in the world.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Waterton Glacier International Peace Park closes the day.
Leg by leg
Waterton Glacier International Peace Park to Waterton Glacier International Peace Park
Waterton Glacier International Peace Park → Waterton Glacier International Peace Park is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Waterton Glacier International Peace Park to Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
Waterton Glacier International Peace Park → Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is 110 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump to back through Waterton Glacier International Peace Park
Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump → back through Waterton Glacier International Peace Park is 110 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Waterton Glacier International Peace Park to back through Waterton Glacier International Peace Park
back through Waterton Glacier International Peace Park → back through Waterton Glacier International Peace Park is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Waterton Glacier International Peace Park to Waterton Glacier International Peace Park
back through Waterton Glacier International Peace Park → Waterton Glacier International Peace Park is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.