Willmore Wilderness Park Project

  
About

The Willmore Wilderness Park is a unique wilderness park located North of Jasper National Park, near the town of Grande Cache. The Willmore Wilderness Park is approximately 4600 square kilometers in size (map). Compared to Jasper National Park, Willmore’s neighbor to the South, Willmore receives much less visitation, and relatively little is known about the users of Willmore Wilderness Park. Willmore is a rugged and remote and travelers should be prepared for backcountry wilderness travel when visiting this park. A more detailed map of the park is available HERE (please note this map should not be used for navigational purposes and is for general reference use only).

Exploring the Human Dimension: Visitor Use Analysis of Willmore Wilderness Park is a project being conducted by the University of Alberta. Project support is also being provided from the Foothills Research Institute, Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation, and the Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks & Wildlife Foundation. Essentially, we are interested in learning more about you and your trip into Willmore. As part of this project, we are conducting Willmore Wilderness Park user surveys, determining user numbers through trail cameras, mapping user patterns through Global Positioning System (GPS) Tracksticks, and conducting interviews with selected individuals.

   

   

  
Why?

We are interested in learning more about you and your trip into Willmore. We are interested, because relatively little is known about the Willmore users. This information is critical to learn as it will help ensure that your Willmore trip experience is being maintained and improved in ways which will greatly benefit you – the Willmore Wilderness Park visitor! The data will also be incorporated into my thesis, part of my Master’s degree requirements at the University of Alberta. In a nutshell, these are the reasons why your participation in the project is important:

  • Provide project data summaries to Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation so they can plan backcountry maintenance e.g., trails & campsites etc.
  • Ensure that your Willmore Wilderness Park experience is being maintained and to gather your suggestions for improving your experience in Willmore.
  • Learn more about you! We need to understand who visits Willmore and why.
  • Understand your familiarity with Willmore. Is there enough information about Willmore available through maps, books, publications, and web pages etc.

Photo Credit: Crisfield (2009)