How is the border crossing handled around Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta?

How is the border crossing handled around Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta? - Lake and Mountain

I'm browsing some trails I'd like to visit next summer around Waterton Lakes NP, in Alberta. Going off an initial skim of Google Maps, it looks like the trail system straddles the border without immediate border checkpoints.

How are these border crossings handled? I understand the US has been fairly strict about e.g. detaining joggers on a beach in BC crossing the border accidentally, and ideally this is something I'd like to avoid.

For context, I'm a Canadian citizen living in Canada.



Best Answer

It's better quote news article from CBP themself. I emphasize "backcountry" for you.

CBP expands ROAM app pilot to Glacier National Park | U.S. Customs and Border Protection

SWEETGRASS, Mont. — U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations is pleased announce the addition of Waterton, Alberta, to the list of pilot locations now using the new Reporting Offsite Arrival-Mobile (ROAM) application for pedestrian reporting.

ROAM app

CBP has expanded it's ROAM app pilot
program. This pilot expansion includes
pedestrians traveling to Goat Haunt,
Montana, via the International Cruise
Line and/or backcountry hiking trails
via Waterton International Peace Park
in Alberta, Canada, and Glacier National
Park in Montana.

This pilot expansion includes pedestrians traveling to Goat Haunt, Montana, via the International Cruise Line and/or backcountry hiking trails via Waterton International Peace Park in Alberta, Canada, and Glacier National Park in Montana.

This pilot addresses a pressing issue for border waters and backcountry trails that depend heavily on tourism. Vacationers and outdoorsmen from around the world travel to these border areas with their families to enjoy both countries’ national parks. Oftentimes these groups travel into the United States by way of the Waterton Shoreline Cruises in Waterton which requires checks by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the Goat Haunt Port of Entry when the intent of the traveler was to cross into the United States and hike backcountry trails in Glacier National Park

The new pilot program will launch on June 16 at Waterton Cruise Company, which docks in Waterton. It is designed to allow travelers intending to cross into the United States via the international cruise line to be inspected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection through the ROAM application. Four inspection kiosks will be stationed at the Waterton Cruise Company docks for travelers to create a profile and declare their intended trip into the United States.

The ROAM app allows boat passengers and hikers the flexibility of reporting their arrival into the U.S. from any location via a device that is capable of 4G/LTE or Wi-Fi. The ROAM app is available in the Apple and Android stores under CBP ROAM. The ROAM app enables a video conference with CBP officers to efficiently make entry into the U.S.

Intending visitors to the United States can construct a profile within the application, and submit their information for a CBP video conference while at the docks, waiting to board the International vessel. Traveler information can be easily saved within the app, or recreated for future crossings.

CBP's remote arrivals app to launch nationwide -- FCW

  • By Mark Rockwell
  • Jun 15, 2018

Near Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada (above), a U.S. border crossing app recently went live. (Photo credit: Jason Patrick Ross/Shutterstock)

A new mobile app from Customs and Border Protection will make life easier for pleasure boaters and hikers in border areas, while freeing up border agents for enforcement operations.

CBP hopes its Reporting Offsite Arrival-Mobile (ROAM) app will be useful for small boat operators and their passengers, as well as hikers and other outdoors enthusiasts, who enter U.S. waters and territories in their travels in border regions.

The app is for travelers who want to be processed by CBP upon entry into the U.S.

"Most travelers want to be compliant" with immigration law, and the app makes it easier to do that, said Christopher Wright, program manager for CBP's office of field operations--innovation.

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Use of the app by travelers will free up agents to enforce immigration rules against travelers who don't want to comply, according to Wright. The app "is more a reallocation" of agents from compliance work to enforcement, he said.

The app works on LTE- or Wi-Fi-capable mobile devices and allows CBP agents to initiate a video chat after travelers set up a login and profile. Wright said CBP has also partnered with Wi-Fi-equipped local businesses in remote areas where cell coverage is limited and set up kiosks at those businesses.

ROAM replaces CPB's Outlying Area Reporting Stations (OARS), which uses 90's era, one-way video transmission capabilities and speakerphones at remote marinas and docks. Those systems, according to the agency, are outdated and challenging to access.




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Do you need a passport to go to Waterton Lakes National Park?

A very common question we get this time of year! While together we are an International Peace Park, Waterton Lakes still lies within Canada. Like any other international travel, you still need an active passport to visit their park.

Is the Canadian border open at Waterton?

Quick facts. The Chief Mountain port of entry is located on the boundary of Waterton Lakes National Park. Since May 12, 2020, the CBSA has also temporarily suspended service at the nearby small vessel reporting site at Waterton Lakes Park. Travellers currently cannot enter Canada by water at this location.

How far is Waterton from the US border?

Alberta South Distances From Drumheller To:CityKilometresMilesSeattle1145716Stettler10060USA Border325203Waterton39832916 more rows

Can you cross the border in Waterton Park?

But for humans, the border is a big deal. The 20-foot-wide unnaturally straight swath visibly bisects the mountains surrounding Upper Waterton Lake. Hikers can walk south from Canada to Goat Haunt, US. They can cross the boundary on foot without going through customs until reaching the Goat Haunt Ranger Station.



USA - Canada Border Hike | Waterton Lakes National Park | Alberta - Montana | Boundary Bay | GoPro




Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: James Wheeler, Jaime Reimer, Krivec Ales, Pixabay