North of Jasper National Park, Willmore Wilderness Park protects approximately 4,600 square kilometres of rugged mountain country. Forests, alpine meadows, clear rivers and streams, abundant wildlife, and a rich human history make it a remarkable place to experience the Canadian Rockies.

With fewer visitors than Jasper, Willmore offers a quieter, more remote backcountry experience. Summer meadows fill with wildflowers, and visitors may encounter mountain goats, bighorn sheep, elk, moose, caribou, wolves, bears, and many other species. The region also holds evidence of ancient natural history, including dinosaur tracks near Grande Cache.

Visiting the Park

Willmore is a remote wilderness. Visitors should have strong backcountry skills and suitable equipment, or travel with an experienced outfitter or guide. Motorized recreation is not permitted. Travel within the Park is by foot, horse, or bicycle.

The Park’s four main staging areas are Sulphur Gates, Cowlick Creek, Berland River, and Rock Lake. Corrals are available at staging areas for visitors entering on horseback.

A wilderness protected by its people

The Willmore Wilderness Park we know today was shaped by people who saw the eastern slopes changing. During the 1940s and 1950s, oil and gas exploration brought roads and development into the mountain region. Guides, outfitters, trappers, and Métis families were concerned about the effects on the trails and the way of life connected to them.

Outfitter Tom Vinson recalled the campaign to protect the area: “He declared the area a wilderness park where trapping, hunting and fishing would be permitted. That was all—no motor vehicles. That’s what we wanted, of course.” The “he” was Norman Willmore, an Alberta MLA and Minister of Lands and Forests who listened to local concerns and helped secure protection for the region.

In 1959, legislation was passed to protect the area. Known as the Willmore Wilderness Act, it established a distinct wilderness park and recognized traditional activities such as hunting, trapping, and fishing. In 2010, the Alberta Legislature passed Motion 507, supporting the continuation of traditional land uses in the Park.

• Read the Willmore Wilderness Park Act

• Read the Alberta Legislature’s Hansard on Motion 507

A homeland and working landscape

The history of Willmore reaches back well before the Park was established. Historical records indicate that Iroquois hunters arrived in the West in the 1790s through the fur trade. Some remained, forming families and connections with Indigenous communities in the region. Iroquois, Métis, Scottish, French, and other families travelled, worked, hunted, trapped, kept horses, and built lives across the mountain country.

North West Company records from the early 1800s name voyageurs and fur trade workers including Ignace Wanyandie, Louis Karakuntie, Ignace Karakuntie, Charles Loyer, Pierre Delorme, Jasper Hawes, and Jacques L’Hirondelle. Families such as the Findlays later became known as Freemen—independent people whose work and travels connected the foothills and mountains.

When Jasper National Park was created in 1910, many Métis families were displaced from the Athabasca Valley. Families moved to Grande Cache, Grovedale, Nose Creek, and other communities. Their descendants continue to live in the region and carry forward its traditions. Names including Berland, Cardinal, Delorme, Findlay, Gauthier, Joachim, Karakuntie, Moberly, and Wanyandie reflect some of these deep family connections.

The Foundation’s commitment

The Willmore Wilderness Foundation works to preserve the Park’s wilderness, history, and living traditions. We support a balanced approach: protecting the land from resource extraction while recognizing the role of people who have lived, worked, and travelled here for generations.

The Willmore Wilderness Act and Motion 507 are important parts of that legacy. The Foundation will continue to speak up for the Park and for the traditional activities that connect its people to the land. Willmore is both a place of extraordinary natural beauty and a living landscape shaped by people, wildlife, and generations of shared history.

Historical material adapted from People & Peaks of Willmore Wilderness Park: 1800s to Mid 1900s.