No Goat Haunt CG for 2021+ Border Closed

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DawsonPass62
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No Goat Haunt CG for 2021+ Border Closed

Post by DawsonPass62 »

The US/Canada international border at Goat Haunt, USA will be closed in 2021. No access into or out of Goat Haunt, USA through Waterton Lakes National Park, Canada.
Goat Haunt backcountry campground will be closed in 2021. Hikers can still hike through the Goat Haunt developed area to other backcountry campgrounds.


The above was recently posted on the Glacier backcountry page
Last edited by DawsonPass62 on Thu Feb 04, 2021 7:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: No Goat Haunt CG for 2021+ Border Close

Post by teapot57 »

Ugh.

Not totally surprised, but disappointed to see it be official.
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Re: No Goat Haunt CG for 2021+ Border Close

Post by Selkie »

January 29 North Country Public Radio article on (non)opening of CA-US land border. "Very little political appetite" on either side to open the border; when it does open, some current restrictions likely to remain in place:
https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org ... der-expert

Government of Canada January 29, 2021, news release on cross-border transit, including by air:
https://www.canada.ca/en/transport-cana ... ravel.html
Some backgrounders appear at the bottom of the article under "Associated Links."

(The Goat Haunt-Waterton area, as I recall, had some special problems wrt water and transit. It could also be deemed a high-congestion area where ppl from all across the US and people from Canada might merge closely. Plus a mix of service people.)
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mattB
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Re: No Goat Haunt CG for 2021+ Border Closed

Post by mattB »

Is the Goat Haunt campground on the Canadian side of the border?
Is the boat dock on the Canadian side?
All the buildings and Ranger Station?
Why would the campground need to be closed just because the border is closed?
DawsonPass62
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Re: No Goat Haunt CG for 2021+ Border Closed

Post by DawsonPass62 »

The Goat Haunt CG are actually concrete shelters right by the visitor center. Everything, including the dock and ranger station, is on the US side. The border is approximately 1/2 way down the lake. The tour boat goes from Waterton to Goat Haunt and stops at the border so that you can see it. The trees are cut down approximately 50 yards across and there is a monument of some sort at the actual border.

With the border closed, there is no need to man this area. Goat Haunt has had staffing issues, mainly getting a licensed water treatment operator, and in the recent past, the boat would go from Waterton to the Goat Haunt area, and then turnaround without stopping at the visitor center/dock.

My guess is that you will still be able to hike/walk to the Goat Haunt area, but there will be no one around. The Goat Haunt shelters are not comfortable to sleep in and are rarely used. The Waterton backcountry campground is about 0.5 miles to the west, and the Kootenai backcountry campground is about 2 miles to the south.

If you do stop at the Goat Haunt area, be sure to jump off the dock by the ranger station. The experience is chilling in every sense of the word as you go through 3 isotherms, and you can actually feel the water temperature change both going down and coming back up. Be sure to do it on a sunny day!
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Re: No Goat Haunt CG for 2021+ Border Closed

Post by zozeppelin »

I didn't fully read or 'read into' the text.

"Hikers can still hike through the Goat Haunt developed area to other backcountry campgrounds." is not something that could have been done last year.

So regardless of the east side status, hopefully they plan on opening the interior. Although Mow has said he expects Many Glacier campground to be open, and there is only 1 way cars can get there.
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