Bertha Falls & Lake Day Hike In Waterton

As much as we love a hike to ourselves, sometimes the busy ones are popular for a reason. Bertha Falls is a classic in Waterton, offering an incredible hike that provides great views for the effort involved.

Along the way to the falls, you’ll get plenty of views of Waterton Lake. Once you reach the falls, you can turn this into a longer hike and continue to Bertha Lake, another 3 km, 400 meters, and 21 switchbacks away. The reward is a brilliant green-blue lake!

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Bertha Falls Hike

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Bertha Day Hike

You can either hike to the Lower Bertha Falls or Bertha Lake for one of the best day hikes in Waterton. The route up to the Bertha Falls is short approachable while the route to the lake that feeds Bertha Creek makes is better suited as a half-day to full day hike.

The trailhead for Bertha lies just outside town across from the Waterton Town Campsite. As the parking lot is quite limited for the hike it’s best to walk from town if you’re visiting during peak times/season. Plus it’s a rare chance that you can walk right to a trailhead in Canada.

From the trailhead the trail ascends through some thick vegetation through a series of gentle switchbacks. It’s not long until the first views begin to open up with views over Waterton Beach and the lake. At only a couple hundred meters into the trail it’s a good sign of what’s to come and the views that will only improve.

The trail continues to gain a moderate amount of elevation and the as with each step the views only get better over the lake. At about the 1.4 km into the trail it reaches a nice bluff over the lake with a bench that provides extraordinary views.

After the bench the trail begins to head up the hanging valley with Bertha Creek towards the falls. Due to the fire in 2017 the views along the way of the valley are great and it’s a prime habitat now for wildflowers which are in abundance.

At the 2.6 km mark the trail reaches Bertha Falls and a bridge that leads over the creek with a close up view of the falls. If this is the end goal it’s nice moderate to easy hike that only takes two hours round trip. Most of the time is spent taking photos because it’s so scenic.

Those after a more extended hike should head up the Bertha Lake and the smaller Upper Bertha Falls. It makes the hike a more moderate and difficult option as it gains around 300 meters through a series of switchbacks that begin right after Bertha Falls.

There is less for views as the forest around and above the falls was undamaged. At around the 5 km mark the trail reaches the lake and Upper Bertha Falls so you can rest your legs. It’s a stunning lake and its shoreline has more great wildflowers.

It’s possible to stop at the lakeshore, but the classic hike is to take a loop around the lake before returning via the same trail to Waterton. Bertha Lake is pretty large and the full loop around the lake is nearly 4 km.

If you complete the loop and hike back to town is should be around 15 km. It’s a solid half day to full day hike depending on you pace and how long you decide to spend along the lakeshore.

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Trail Difficulty

There are multiple options for the Bertha Trail as it leads to Bertha Falls and Bertha Lake. Overall the full trail is a moderate hike as it gradually gains elevation along a well-developed trail. The hike to Bertha Falls and back is a good easy to moderate hike and only takes a couple of hours.

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Trail Length

The trail is around 15 km long and gains just under 500 meters of elevation. On average, we’d say it takes most 5 to 6 hours to complete with some stops. We’ve heard of some taking longer than that.

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Best Time to Hike

The trail to Bertha is generally dries out sometime in May. However, to best enjoy the hike we suggest the month of June as it allows for the wildflowers to bloom. Every season is different, but the hike is good until October.