Crypt Lake

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September 16, 2023. A beautiful day on Waterton’s most famous trail.

  • Region: Waterton Lakes National Park. Traditional territory of the Tsuu T’ina, Ktunaxa, and Blackfoot First Nations
  • Distance: 17.4 km return
  • Elevation Gain: 675 m
  • Elevation of Objective: 1946 m
  • Total Time: 7h 5m
  • Safety and Disclaimer

Sooner or later, this blog was going to have a Crypt Lake post. I’ve hiked the Crypt Lake trail twice in the past, most recently just before I started writing this blog. The hike is a true gem, though, and I was bound to return to it again. Yesterday my wife and I joined some friends and we made our return to Waterton’s most famous hiking trail.

A journey to Crypt Lake involves following a very obvious and well-maintained hiking trail. It also involves sharing your day with many, many other hikers. The number of hikers could accurately be described as “boatloads”, since a boat trip is necessary in order to reach the trailhead (that’s not technically true – you could reach it by making a 14 km journey along the Wishbone trail – nobody does this). What attracts all of these hikers is a trail that ascends from the shores of Upper Waterton Lake, passes though forest that was untouched by the 2017 Kenow Fires, and travels up a long, secluded valley past waterfalls and a tarn before ascending to a narrow tunnel and a dramatic traverse above a 200 meter drop. The beautiful, hidden lake (hence the name “Crypt”) at the end is almost mundane compared to what comes before it.

As mentioned, access to the trailhead is most often achieved by boat. Most hikers buy a ticket on the seasonal ferry that is run by the Waterton Shoreline Cruise Company. At the time of writing, online booking is not available, but they do post a schedule online. The lineup for tickets starts to form a half hour or so before the ticket office opens, so plan ahead for that. Also, if you don’t have a national park pass, you might find that there’s nobody manning the entry booths at the park entrance in the early morning, requiring you to wait until the park office in the middle of the townsite opens (at 8:30) so you can buy your day pass. Take this into account when planning your trip.

The ferry ride from the Waterton marina across the lake to the trailhead takes about 15 minutes. Once you’re off the boat, you join with your fellow passengers setting off on the trail. At first everyone is bunched together, but after a while various groups sort themselves by speed and things don’t feel too crowded. A few switchbacks bring you up into an elongated valley and from there the trail gently ascends along the north valley wall. A fork in the trail leads to Hell Roaring Canyon. This trail later re-joins the main trail. Most people who have the time and energy visit Hell Roaring Canyon on the return trip rather than at the start of the day. On this particular trip we didn’t go that way, but I’ve done it before and thought that it was worthwhile. A short distance beyond where the Hell Roaring trail re-joins, the main trail passes Twin Falls. These are more easily heard than seen, being obscured by trees. There is a little side-trail that goes to a viewpoint which allows a bit of a better view.

Eventually another waterfall comes into full view. This is called Swirling Mist Falls on topographic maps from the NRC and Garmin. However, guidebooks and Gem Trek Maps call this Burnt Rock Falls. The trail ascends above these falls then proceeds higher up the valley wall. An un-named tarn comes into view, and above that are the 200 meter tall Crypt Falls which crash down from Crypt Lake’s hanging valley. After a bit of an ascent, the trail passes through the site of the decommissioned Crypt Lake backcountry campground. I think this campground has been shut down since at least the 1990s due to the large amount of bear activity in the area. However, there is still a pit toilet up there that’s maintained by Park Canada.

Beyond the old campground is where the excitement begins. The trail traverses along an airy ledge and approaches the mouth of a 20 meter long tunnel. A ladder leads up to the entrance. The tunnel is a little narrow and not tall enough to stand in. I have never found it particularly daunting but can imagine this being a mental obstacle for some people. Once through the tunnel, the trail ascends on (relatively) narrow ledges above a dramatic drop. A chain has been fixed along the rock wall by Parks Canada in this location (it was a cable up until this year when some maintenance was done). The chain isn’t absolutely necessary to make the traverse, but it’s reassuring and I have found it helpful on the descent. Beyond the traverse, it’s a short walk to Crypt Lake.

The lake itself is impressive: a crystal blue body of water below steep cliffs. Snow patches were still present on some of the north-facing slopes. Even though there were 2 ferry-loads of people around the shore, the lake is big enough that it didn’t feel crowded. There is a trail that goes around the lake, and the portion at the far (southern) end actually just barely enters the United States.

When you buy your ferry ticket, you’re given a return-trip ticket with your departure time marked. You really don’t want to miss the boat and be stuck at the far side of the Waterton Lake overnight. I’ve never found it too hard to stay on time, though, even while hiking in groups with variable hiking experience. On this trip, we actually only spent about a half hour at Crypt Lake before starting our descent. As we made our way down we made several long stops to admire the waterfalls or to enjoy the ambiance by a tiny creek.

Of the 3 times that I’ve hiked this trail, this was the only occasion that I didn’t encounter a bear. Even with the large amount of human activity in the area, bears encounters are common. Aside from a very dramatic episode back in the 1980s, though, I can’t bring to mind any stories of an actual bear attack on that trail. The usual advice around hiking in bear country applies to the Crypt Lake trail.

Click/tap on the pictures in the gallery below to access higher-resolution images.

Route overview looking south. The yellow line is the international border.
Google Earth actually has surprisingly detailed imagery of the area. The trail is plainly visible. Too bad there’s a ghostly dashed line superimposed. This is the final portion of the trail before the lake.
Morning at the Waterton marina. We were fortunate to have a perfect day for hiking. Though it was technically the last weekend of summer, practically speaking this was a fall hike.
The ferry company usually cuts their schedule back after Labor Day, going from two sailings to one. It was such a nice day, though, and there were so many people wanting to hike that they decided to run two ferries.
Out on the lake on a beautiful morning.
Mount Crandell and the Prince of Wales Hotel behind us.
The boat dock at the trailhead. A kayak is visible pulled up on shore – if you want anything approaching solitude on this trail, you’ll need to arrive early on a private boat or kayak of some kind.
Setting out at the start of the trail. Parks Canada set up a placard to remind us that bear encounters are likely. As it turned out, we didn’t encounter any bears. The week prior, though, there was an advisory because there had been several encounters with a grizzly bear on this trail.
My previous visits to Crypt Lake had been in July. This was my first September trip, and the colours were lovely.
Some more autumn colours.
In short order, the trail had brought us well above the level of Upper Waterton Lake. Looking back we had nice views of Mount Richards and Bertha Peak.
To our right as we ascended was Mount Boswell. The summit is visible here, but through the day we’d mostly be looking at the cliffs on its eastern aspect (at the left of this picture). The forest here is some of Waterton’s last remaining old growth forest following the 2017 fires.
Carrying on along the trail, now looking up at the cliffs of Mount Boswell’s eastern aspect.
Eventually we had this clear view of Swirling Mist Falls, also referred to as Burnt Rock Falls.
A closer look at Burnt Rock Falls/Swirling Mist Falls. Both names for the waterfall are apt. The base of the falls is a rounded cup in the rock. The black coloration certainly looks burnt. Meanwhile, the wind blowing up the valley swirls the mist coming off the falls.
A look down the valley in the direction we came from.
Following the trail as it passes into the portion of the valley above the falls.
Looking up a drainage to the left as we ascend. High above is Vimy Ridge.
The first clear look at Crypt Falls, coming down from Crypt Lake’s hanging valley. The angle of the sun was pretty unfavourable for photography. The flow of the falls was fairly low. In July it’s quite impressive.
As we continue to ascend we got better views of the tarn in the valley below Crypt Falls and above Swirling Mist Falls.
Another look at Crypt Falls from further along the trail.
Looking ahead, we could see the highlight of the trail – the traverse and the tunnel. Tiny figures could be seen going in and emerging from the other side.
Shortly before the traverse and tunnel, the trail arrives at the old campsite. There’s a pit toilet up here, as well as down at the trailhead.
Starting the traverse before the tunnel.
Coming up on the tunnel entrance. The ladder is visible, and the trail follows the ledge that goes directly to its base. The picture is quite dramatic, but it doesn’t feel very exposed when your walking along here. This section of the trail is a bottleneck, both because of the narrow ledges and cave, and because everyone wants to get pictures.
At the top of the ladder, looking back at the ledge.
Into the cave. It’s roughly 4 feet tall.
Once out of the cave, there are more ledges to traverse. There’s an initial descent, then a climb. The climb is where the chains are fixed.
The last part of the traverse with its fixed chain. Coming down this feels more precarious than going up.
At the end of the traverse there is this beautiful view down in to the valley.
Following the traverse, there’s one last little climb up to the lake. A fork in the trail leads to the right – I think that leads to the top of Crypt Falls. I’ve never been that way.
Crypt Lake.
A bit of a wider view. A trail goes around the entirety of the lake. It’s worth going around if you have time.
Even with two ferries worth of people scattered along the shore, it didn’t feel crowded. We were treated to a clear sky and a little bit of light wind. It was quite the idyllic day in Waterton.
Time to head back down.
Almost back down to the trailhead. Is was nice and cool in the forest and we took some time to admire the colours. My previous visits to Crypt Lake have been in July, and I’d say that’s probably still the best time to go. An outing in the fall certainly has its own charm, though.

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