Since Lake Louise is one of the most popular destinations in Banff National Park, if not THE most popular destination, I thought today I’d share with you some tips for making the most of your time here! Lake Louise is a beautiful, turquoise blue lake that gets it color from the light reflecting off of the glacial silt that flows into the water as the nearby glaciers melt.
- When to visit Lake Louise:
- If you’re wanting to see this lake at its peak teal color, you should visit during the summer months from about mid-June on, when the lake will be fully thawed.
- If you are hoping to see some fall colors at Lake Louise, it’s best to visit from mid-September through October. Many of the nearby trees are evergreens that stay green year round, but the larch needles of some of the pine trees change to a golden color that is beautiful to see.
- Avoiding crowds at Lake Louise:
- Going first thing in the morning (i.e., before 7:30 or 8am) or after dinnertime in the evening is the best way to get a spot in the parking lot and to avoid crowds here. In particular, try to avoid arriving to Lake Louise around 10am, when many of the tour buses start dropping off their visitors and the lake gets quite crowded, especially at the front of the lake.
- If the parking lot at Lake Louise is full, they will not allow any more guests to enter and will direct you toward the exit. In that case, there is an overflow parking lot several miles away that has shuttle buses that transport guests to and from the lake, but this is a less convenient and more time-consuming option.
- Where to hike at Lake Louise:
- Lake Agnes Tea House Trail:
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- The most well-known hike at Lake Louise is the Lake Agnes Tea House trail, named for the mountainside tea house that has been open since 1905. Be prepared that this trail is steep and quite difficult! Completing the full trail starting at the Lake Louise shoreline and going to Mirror Lake, the tea house, and the Big and Little Beehive Lookouts covers a round-trip distance of about 8 miles and goes up to an elevation of about 7000 feet.
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- Brian and I started this hike at about 7:30pm on our first full day in Banff, after waking up at 4:30am to catch the sunrise on the way to Moraine Lake, so we’d already had a full day by the time we visited Lake Louise. This hike is steep with many switchbacks and is uphill the entire way. We only hiked about 2 miles each way to Mirror Lake, and did not make it to the tea house itself, or the Beehive lookouts, as we were running out of daylight (and energy!).
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- Plain of Six Glaciers trail:
- This trail starts at the back of Lake Louise near its glacial silt delta, or what I like to call the ‘secret beach’. It covers about 6.8 miles round trip and takes you close to the Victoria Glacier, Mount Lefroy, and Mount Victoria, as well as another lesser known tea house at the end of the trail.
- Expect to see a lot of wildlife here, including chipmunks, mountain goats, and even grizzly bears. Bring your bear spray!
- Canoeing at Lake Louise:
- Canoeing the beautiful teal water of Lake Louise is such a great way to take in all the sights from the water. While renting a canoe here is not cheap, to me it was well worth it! The price is $110 CAD (or about $80 USD) for a one hour rental, which gives you enough time to canoe to what I call the ‘secret beach’ at the back of Lake Louise.
- In my (pretty extensive!) research before visiting Banff, I never read anything about the soft sand with streams of glacial water flowing into Lake Louise, but it’s lovely. Exploring this sandy delta and leaping over the flowing streams to see the turquoise water even closer up was honestly one of my favorite parts of visiting Lake Louise!
Have you been to Lake Louise before, and if not, is it on your list? Lake Louise and Moraine Lake were some of my favorite places that we visited in Banff and Jasper, so I highly recommend making this a part of your trip! If there is anything else you want to know about visiting Banff, make sure you let me know in the comments so I can cover it next time!
