Nations such as "Blackfoot, Piegan, and Blood tribes have long hunted, fished, and gathered foods and medicinal plants throughout [the] territory".

Logging, mining, and oil and gas extraction were conducted resulting in a network of roads spread through the area.

[6]: 19 In 1992, an Access Management Plan was developed to address the increased use of off-highway vehicles in the Castle River area.

In 1993, the Special Places 2000 Committee recommended the sites identified for protection, including the Castle area, be established by the end of 1994.

[6]: vii The park's natural history themes are in the Alpine, Subalpine, and Montane subregions of the Rocky Mountain region in the Alberta classification system.

[5] In the National Ecological Framework for Canada used by Environment and Climate Change Canada, the park is in the Crowsnest Mountains, Blairmore Foothills, and Waterton Mountains ecodistricts of the Northern Continental Divide ecoregion in the Columbia Montane Cordillera ecoprovince of the Montane Cordillera ecozone.

The result of these geological events is the landscape of the park, "characterized by mountain peaks, numerous streams, and forests".

[6]: 25 The Köppen climate classification of the park is Continental, Subarctic (Dfc) characterized by long, cold, dry winters, and short, cool, summers.