The Journal Times Online - Racine, Wisconsin

The Prince of Wales Hotel is dwarfed by the surrounding mountains and the landscape changes throughout the day with the rising and setting of the sun. Located in Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, this beautiful lodge is actually in Canada, just north of the Montana border in the Rocky Mountains.

Nestled at the northern edge of Upper Waterton Lake and one of several lodges in the park, the lodge's elevation is about 4,200 feet while the area's tallest peak, Mount Blakiston, reaches up to nearly 9,600 feet. It's breathtaking.

We camped at Carndell Mountain Campground in the park but enjoyed a delicious lunch in the lodge's restaurant, with a million dollar view through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

During a rather cold and rainy evening in August, we made ourselves at home in its spacious, yet comfortable lobby while drinking hot chocolate and playing cards while warming up by the cozy fireplace.

I haven't stayed overnight in any of the lodges in the National Parks...but I was inspired to at least visit them when I saw several episodes of PBS's "Great Lodges of the National Parks" and
"Great Lodges of the Canadian Rockies." Overnight stays are pretty expensive and reservations are required well in advance, but each lodge's history and architecture is amazing and worth a visit.

What would be your favorite landscape out your window? Have you visited any of the western lodges?