Lake Louise

In summer, about 10,000 visitors per day make the journey from the Bow Valley floor up to Lake Louise. By noon the tiered parking lot is often full. An alternative to the road is one of two hiking trails that begin in the village and end at the public parking lot. From here several paved trails lead to the lake’s eastern shore. From these vantage points the dramatic setting can be fully appreciated. The lake is 2.4 km (1.5 miles) long, 500 meters (1,640 feet) wide, and up to 90 meters (295 feet) deep. Its cold waters reach a maximum temperature of 4°C (39°F) in August.

Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise is a tourist attraction in itself. Built by the CPR to take the pressure off the popular Banff Springs resort, the chateau has seen many changes in the last 100 years, yet it remains one of the world’s great mountain resorts. No one minds the hordes of camera-toting tourists who traipse through each day—and there’s really no way to avoid them. The immaculately manicured gardens between the chateau and the lake make an interesting foreground for the millions of Lake Louise photographs taken each year. At the lakeshore boathouse, canoes are rented for $40 per hour.

The snow-covered peak at the back of the lake is Mount Victoria (3,459 meters/11,350 feet), which sits on the Continental Divide. Amazingly, its base is more than 10 km (6.2 miles) from the eastern end of the lake. Mount Victoria, first climbed in 1897, remains one of the park’s most popular peaks for mountaineers. Although the difficult northeast face (facing the chateau) was first successfully ascended in 1922, the most popular and easiest route to the summit is along the southeast ridge, approached from Abbot Pass.