Crowsnest Pass and the Castle

Working out where to go? Browse the trip reports by objective for this area, and check the forecast before you commit.

Crowsnest Pass & Castle region — Alberta Parks

• Reservable — Chinook Lake; Beaver Mines Lake, Castle Falls, and Castle River Bridge (Castle PP)
• First-come, first-served — Lynx Creek and the numbered designated camping areas (Castle PP camping index)
• Hostels and huts — none. Neither Hostelling International nor the Alpine Club of Canada has a property in the Crowsnest or the Castle; the nearest hut is the Cameron Lake Cabin in Waterton.

Public land camping

North and east of the pass the land is public rather than park, and random camping is permitted there. See how it works for the pass and the province-wide rules; what is specific to here:

• Livingstone PLUZ — the Forestry Trunk Road country north of Coleman, up the Oldman and the Livingstone Range. Random camping is permitted across most of it, except in the Willow Creek area, where camping is confined to designated nodes and campfires are permitted only in those nodes. The nodes are free and first-come, and still need the pass.
• Porcupine Hills PLUZ — east towards Nanton. Random camping is permitted, 1 km back from any Provincial Recreation Area. The pass is required here specifically, even though the zone sits outside the main Eastern Slopes boundary.

The Castle itself is now provincial park and wildland, not public land, so none of the above applies there. The numbered designated camping areas listed above are the former random camping areas, converted to rustic fee campgrounds with vault toilets and fire rings. In Castle Wildland Provincial Park backcountry tent camping is still allowed with no permit and no pass, 1 km from any road or facility — but vehicle camping, and camping at staging areas and day-use lots, are prohibited.

Check the Interactive Recreation Map for the zone and node boundaries, and public land closures before driving out.