Elk Lakes Provincial Park provides you with the ulti mate wilderness experience. Visitors will encounter rugged rock faced peaks, three glaciers, clear alpine lakes and the spectacular Petain Falls. The mountains, with many nearby lakes, woodlands and cold rivers provide homes for elk, bighorn mountain sheep, mountain goats, black and grizzly bears, wolf, moose and both white-tailed and mule deer. Also sharing the forest are many smaller animals including coyote, cougar, lynx, wolverine, skunk, porcupine, snowshoe hare, red and flying squirrel, and badgers. For bird enthusiasts there is everything from hummingbirds to ospreys and bald eagles and even shy species such as the pileated woodpecker.
Game birds are plentiful.
Local lakes and rivers support whitefish, Dolly Varden and cutthroat trout. Many lakes are stalked with Rainbow and brook trout. This picturesque waterfall was discovered in 1905 by Professor Henry F. Osborn and his family, and named in honor of Miss Josephine Osborn, a sweet maid in her teens, who caught the largest trout thus far recorded from that spot. This is just one of the many maintained recreation trails in the area. Trails are used through all seasons.