Lake Louise, Alberta
The most photographed lake in Canada, and one of its largest ski areas
Lake Louise is a hamlet of a few hundred people with a world-famous lake, a chateau on its shore, and a ski area across the valley big enough to take a week — all inside Banff National Park.
The lake was reached by Europeans in 1882 and named for Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, Queen Victoria's daughter; the Canadian Pacific built a chalet on the shore in 1890 that grew into the Chateau Lake Louise, and the business of bringing people to look at glacial meltwater has continued ever since. The colour is real and it is seasonal: rock flour suspended in the water scatters light to that particular turquoise only once the summer melt is running, so a June visit and a September visit look quite different, and in winter it is a frozen white plain with a skating rink on it.
The Lake Louise Ski Resort sits across the Bow Valley from the lake, on the other side of the Trans-Canada, and is among the largest ski areas in Canada by terrain. It is arranged over a front face of long groomers and a back and larches side of bowls and chutes, and its particular quality is the view: the Victoria Glacier and the Ten Peaks are in front of you for most of the descent. Being in a national park, it is also a place where you share the valley with wildlife — wolf and bear closures are normal.
The hamlet itself is tiny — a small village centre, the chateau, a hostel and a handful of hotels — and it is expensive. Many people stay in Banff, 40 minutes southeast, or Canmore an hour, and drive up. In high summer the lake's parking fills before dawn and a shuttle is effectively compulsory.
Where People Live
The lakeshore & Chateau
The lake, the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, the canoe dock and the start of the Plain of Six Glaciers and Lake Agnes trails.
Lake Louise village
Down at valley level by the Trans-Canada: the small commercial centre, the hostel, the grocery and the Samson Mall.
The ski area
Across the valley: the gondola and lifts, the Whitehorn day lodges, and the Lake Louise Summer Gondola with its grizzly viewing.
Moraine Lake & the Valley of the Ten Peaks
Fourteen kilometres up a side road, shuttle-only in season — arguably the better of the two lakes and considerably harder to reach.
Must-see attractions
Where to stay
Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise
111 Lake Louise Dr, Lake Louise, AB T0L 1E0, Canada
Eat & drink
Lake Agnes Tea House
Restaurant
Plain of Six Glaciers Teahouse
Restaurant — Lake Louise, AB T0L 1E0
Restaurants & places to go
Local transit
Roam Transit
Bus · Banff, Alberta · Schedules & GTFS data (official feed)
Trains & rail
VIA Rail Canada
National rail
Coaches & shuttles
Brewster Express ← Calgary, Alberta
Calgary airport to Lake Louise via Banff, about three hours. · Calgary, Alberta guide →
Ebus
Intercity coach
Rider Express
Intercity coach
Living Here
The season
- Ski season runs roughly late November to early April, with the highest terrain holding into late April or May in a good year. Opening and closing dates move with the snowpack every season — check the resort before booking flights around them.
- The Lake Louise ski area has one of the longest seasons in the Rockies, typically from early November to early or mid-May — among the first in Canada to open and the last to close.
- The lake freezes in late November or December and the ice is maintained for skating through winter, with the Ice Magic sculpture festival in January.
Getting there and around
- Calgary International is about two hours east on the Trans-Canada. Banff is 40 minutes southeast, Canmore an hour.
- A Parks Canada park pass is required to stop anywhere in the national park, including the lake and the ski area.
- In summer, parking at Lake Louise and Moraine Lake is severely limited: Moraine Lake has no private-vehicle access and Lake Louise fills very early. Use the Parks Canada shuttle and book it ahead.
When the snow goes
- The classic hikes start at the lakeshore: Lake Agnes and the teahouse, the Plain of Six Glaciers, and the Big Beehive. All are busy and all are worth it.
- The Summer Gondola runs for alpine walking and grizzly viewing across the valley.
- Whitewater rafting on the Kicking Horse, over the pass at Golden in BC, is about an hour west and is the nearest serious water.
Practicalities
- There is no hospital in the hamlet — Banff has the nearest, and Calgary anything major.
- This is a national park: food storage, wildlife distance rules and trail closures are enforced, and group-of-four restrictions apply on some trails in berry season.