Lake Louise is a picture perfect location in Banff National Park.
I’ve been lucky enough to have been multiple times over the years of living near the Bow Valley, but these days it’s almost impossible to get to.
You can visit all year round, in the winter the hikes are closed due to avalanche risk, but the lake is frozen and you are able to skate on sections of it or walk to the end of the lake.
A question that is always asked is why is the lake water so blue? In the Rockies, there is a silt called rock flour that is suspended in the water. The sun reflects against this rock flour resulting in this beautiful blue!


Tips for visiting Lake Louise:
- You must arrive early if you are planning on driving and parking – the parking lots can be full by 9/10am, and even earlier on weekends or in the summer. If it is full, you will be turned away.
- You can book a shuttle ahead of time to park at the Lake Louise Ski Resort and be shuttled to Lake Louise – this is likely the best option buyt you still need to plan ahead of time.
- If you are not used to hiking, then you should be prepared for a generally uphill the whole way hike to the Lake Agnes Teahouse (which also gets insanely busy).
Hikes at Lake Louise
The Lake Agnes Teahouse
This is the most classic hike at Lake Louise. It takes you up a rocky, dirt path to a stop called Mirror Lake, past a waterfall on the side of the mountain, up a staircase to the Lake Agnes Teahouse. This teahouse does sell food and drink but it gets VERY busy, so I would still recommend to bring your own refreshments.




The Big Beehive
If you keep walking past the Lake Agnes Teahouse and along the side of the lake, you will come along a trail to the back of Lake Agnes. This will take you up a few switchbacks to the top of the Beehive (the mountain you looked up at when you were at Mirror lake). You can look down on Lake Louise and really see the blue color from here. I highly recommend this!






The Plains of the Six Glaciers
This hike takes you up to Lake Agnes Teahouse, then up the Big Beehive, then down a different direction to take you across the Plain of the Six Glaciers to a second teahouse, and then you walk back to the hotel along the lake from the back.
It was quite gorgeous the entire way!







