12 Most Beautiful Lakes In The Canadian Rockies — Our Wanders

When it comes to mountainous landscapes, the Canadian Rockies are hard to beat. When it comes to beautiful alpine lakes, it has barely any competition. Canada is a country that holds the largest amount of freshwater and has the most lakes in the world, anyway. But the Canadian Rockies are home to lakes with the most unbelievably vibrant colors. Add some majestic mountain backdrop, and the magic is real.

We spent our two weeks road trip in the Canadian Rockies in constant awe. No, not every lake is the same, they all offer something unique. Some of them are very famous and had a firm spot on our bucket list, and many others we simply stumbled upon and fell in love with. I usually recommend everyone (including myself, hah) to let go of their expectations before visiting a new place, but it doesn’t really matter in the Rockies. It easily exceeds any expectation!

The best way to explore the Rockies? Driving the scenic drives on your own. Click here to find the best rental car rates.

I tried the impossible: choose the twelve most beautiful lakes in the Canadian Rockies. While we’ve seen many more, and whenever I think of any that’s not on the list I feel tempted to add, this is the “best of the best” in my opinion (and with a little bit of cheating):

• Maligne Lake, Jasper National Park
• Valley of Five Lakes, Jasper National Park
• Bow Lake, Banff National Park
• Peyto Lake, Banff National Park
• Lake Louise, Banff National Park
• Lake Agnes, Banff National Park
• Lake Moraine, Banff National Park
• How to access Lake Moraine?
• What to do at Lake Moraine?
• Two Jack Lake, Banff National Park
• What to do at Two Jack Lake?
• Cascade Ponds, Banff National Park
• What to do at Cascade Ponds?
• Emerald Lake, Yoho National Park
• What to do at Emerald Lake?
• Sherbrooke Lake, Yoho National Park
• Upper Kananaskis Lake, Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, Kananaskis Country
• What to do at Upper Kananaskis Lake?
• More popular activities in the Canadian Rockies

Maligne Lake, Jasper National Park

One of the majestic beauties of Jasper National Park is Maligne Lake, the longest natural lake in the Canadian Rockies (23 km long) and the second largest glacier-fed lake in the world. Changing colors of water, 360-degree mountain views and three glaciers — this is what you get when visiting it.

How to access Maligne Lake?

It’s a 45-minute drive from the town of Jasper on the scenic Maligne Lake Road. But the only way to experience the grandeur of Maligne Lake is seeing it from the water. There’s no road or hiking trail around the lake, and even though you can get a pretty overview of it from a few viewpoints near Home Bay, the only point accessible by car, you’ll only realize what you missed when you cross the lake on water.

A special thing about Maligne Lake is the changing colors of the water. No, it doesn’t only change with the season, but it’s different in different areas. It varies as the water moves from the inflow to the outflow of the lake, and you can easily notice this change as you cruise through the lake by boat. The closer you get to the glaciers, the more emerald the color of the water becomes.

The story of the name

“If Lake Louise is a pearl, Maligne is the entire pearl necklace” — said Mary Schäffer, the first European to see the lake in 1908. Mary was an artist and explorer who fell for the Rockies and went searching for this lake based on a drawing of a young Indigenous boy. She was the one who gave the lake its name, and it’s a funny story.

The river that flows out of the lake was called Maligne River, named after the treacherous waters that almost cost Pierre-Jean De Smet his life in the 18 thcentury. Mary found that Maligne is a nice name, but since she didn’t speak French, she didn’t know that it means wicked. So here it is: Maligne Lake which is not wicked, but beautiful.

Hall of Gods and Spirit Island

The box canyon towards the end of the lake is called “the Hall of Gods”, also after Mary Schäffer, and the views of the glaciers running off into the lake are truly otherworldly. This area is also home to one of the most photographed spots in Jasper: Spirit Island.

The tiny, picturesque island is a spiritual place for the Stoney Nakoda First Nation, you can only access it from the water, mainly by boat, because it’s about 14 km from the docks at Home Bay. But since this place is sacred, it’s not allowed to set foot on it.

What to do at Maligne Lake?

• take a Maligne Lake Boat Tour (they run from May to October)
• kayak or canoe on the lake
• walk on the lakeshore (Mary Schaffer Loop Trail)
• visit Maligne Canyon on your way there or back
• hike Opal Hills or Bald Hills for a birds-eye view of Maligne Lake and the valley

Valley of Five Lakes, Jasper National Park

So here’s why I’m cheating with this list: this item is not one lake but a loop hike that includes five lakes of jade and blue colors. The 4.7 km loop takes about 1.5 hour to complete, so it’s a very easy hike with a high reward. All the five lakes are stunning!

We visited them on a cloudy-rainy day, and even then their color was mesmerizing, but I can imagine how they sweep you off your feet on a sunny day. Not very creatively they’re named First Lake, Second Lake, and the list goes on until Fifth Lake. If I have to choose the highlights, it’s Third Lake and Fourth Lake, because you see them from above as the trail is elevated and doesn’t run directly on the lakeshore. However, there’s no point picking one or two lakes, the full loop trail with all the lake views gives the most perfect experience.

In calm weather you can enjoy reflections of peaks and pine forests on the water surfaces. Not surprisingly, it’s one of the busiest hikes in Jasper National Park, starts right by the road as you drive the Icefields Parkway.

Bow Lake, Banff National Park

Banff National Park is a paradise of glacial-fed lakes, and some of them are just quick roadside stops. Well, don’t leave them too quickly, look for a quiet corner and appreciate their beauty. Like at Bow Lake, located at 1920 meters above sea level. I would hike long hours to see this lake, but I didn’t need to, it’s right by the road. It’s actually one of the best roadside stops along the Icefields Parkway!

Bow Glacier in the Wapta Icefield feeds the lake, and the turquoise water color is thanks to the glacial meltwater and its sediments. (All these magically colored lakes are fed by glaciers. You can tell this by the color.) Bow Summit towers above the lake, and the snow-capped peaks reflect on the water surface on a calm day.

What to do at Bow Lake?

• have a lakeshore picnic
• explore some of the viewpoints (there’s no hiking trail around the lake, but there are different viewpoints on the shore)

Peyto Lake, Banff National Park

Peyto Lake is another one almost by the road along the Icefields Parkway, and its unbelievable turquoise hues made it Insta-famous. You get that view from above, and you need to take a short detour to the parking on Bow Summit Road, then walk a few hundred meters to the lookout on a steadily ascending paved path. (Wheelchair accessible parking is available even closer.)

The first viewpoint with a brand new wooden viewing platform is a popular photography spot and usually very crowded. But follow the trail to the second viewpoint. It has no viewing platform, but a large clearing offers thrilling views! Since it’s another few hundred meters hike on forest trails, it keeps a huge fraction of visitors away.

The lake is named after Bill Peyto, an early guide in the park back in the early 1900s.

What makes the color of Peyto Lake so unreal?

First of all, it’s not only Peyto Lake and not even only the alpine lakes in the Canadian Rockies. This is a thing for all glacier-fed lakes in the world, and we’ve seen others both in North America and in Europe. Granted, we haven’t seen such a large amount of them anywhere else as in the Canadian Rockies.

But how exactly do glaciers make this color? The water in these lakes is glacial meltwater which is perfectly clear, once all the tiny sediments settle on the bottom of the lake. But they do so very slowly. The fine rock dust particles in the glacial water stays suspended for a long time, and they reflect light and create that turquoise shade. Peyto Lake sits at 1880 meters and is fed by the Wapta Glacier.

However, this color is not constant, it changes with the seasons — though the lakes are frozen for the majority of the year, so it might not be that obvious. But their brilliant blue-green hue is the most perfect from mid-June when glaciers start to melt.

It also means that the color of these lakes are affected by the glaciers shrinking as the climate changes. It could mean that their color will change to a deeper blue, and future generations might not be able to enjoy the same hues as we do.

Which is the best time of the day to visit the Peyto Lake lookout?

There’s no time of the day when this landscape looks ugly. 🙂 But as you get close to sunset, and the sun shines behind the lake and into your eyes, those famous turquoise hues disappear. Sunrise is roughly behind you, and the first rays of the sun lit up the mountain background first, then Peyto Lake, and the turquoise hues become visible. Even if you can’t catch sunrise (it’s very early in the summer, around 5–6 am), early morning light conditions are perfect to bring out the colors. Given that it’s a sunny day, of course.

Lake Louise, Banff National Park

morning view of Lake Louise

Lake Louise is among the most iconic natural sights in the Canadian Rockies, if not in all Canada. It has been protected since the very early stage of tourism in the Rockies from the 1890s. The first simple log cabin on Lake Louise was built in 1890, then the Fairmont Chateau began operating in 1982. Today, it’s one of the stars of Banff, its large enough parking lot filling up by about 7 am in the summer months.

The lake sits at 1750 meters. It’s relatively small, only about 2 km in length and 0.5 km wide. It usually thaws in early June. The glaciers also start to melt in June, so rock flour flows into the lake and gives it the famous turquoise color.

Is Lake Louise worth visiting?

I was wondering whether Lake Louise really deserves this huge fame before we visited, and it didn’t take long to convince me: brilliant turquoise water with a soaring mountain backdrop!

Okay, I’ll be honest: the very first view of the lake was a bit underwhelming. Hordes of tourists posed on the lakeshore, it wasn’t idyllic or peaceful. But then we started walking on the shore, and as we got further from the crowds, the beauty of Lake Louise became more and more obvious.

Then we hiked up to Lake Agnes and the Big Beehive where we enjoyed perfect views of Lake Louise from above. We made it a loop by continuing on the Plain of Six Glaciers where even more distant Lake Louise views awaited. This full day loop trail became one of my all-time favorite mountain trails in the world, and as we finished the loop on the Lake Louise lakeshore trail, I had no doubt that this lake left an unforgettable impression on me.

The story of the name

The original name of the lake is Emerald Lake, named by Tom Wilson, but it didn’t last long. In 1884 it was named after Alberta’s Governor General’s wife, Princess Louise, and the name “Emerald Lake” shifted to the nearby lake of today’s Yoho National Park.

How to access Lake Louise?

One of the draws of Lake Louise is that it’s so easily accessible. You can drive directly to the lakeshore. Or in reality, you can’t. The parking lot gets full so early on summer days and stays full throughout the day that it requires advance planning to get there.

Arrive by 7 am if you’d like to park on the lakeshore. It’s paid parking and has a daily charge. If the parking lot is full, you’re out of options as parking on the road shoulders is not allowed. Your other option to get there is the transfer bus from the Lake Louise Ski Resort which operates as a Park & Ride in the summer season. You need to make a reservation for the shuttle in advance. In exchange, you can take advantage of the Lake Connector route that takes you to Moraine Lake, as well, then you can get back to the Park & Ride from there.

What to do at Lake Louise?

• hike the Lake Agnes Trail or the Plain of Six Glaciers (or combine them into a full day loop hike)
• walk the lakeshore trail
• kayak on the lake
• have a picnic on the lakeshore (it’s lined with benches)

Lake Agnes, Banff National Park

Lake Agnes is one to hike to. It’s about 3.5 km from Lake Louise, and this trail is what most visitors complete, finishing it in the historical teahouse perched right beside Lake Agnes since 1901.

This is an easy trail, but don’t mistake it for a walk: you reach Lake Agnes through countless switchbacks through the forest. Because of the forest, there’s not much scenery on the way. You arrive at a viewpoint about halfway, then you can see Mirror Lake not much before the end. It’s a small, but beautiful lake which could be more famous if it wasn’t overshadowed by some many majestic lakes in the area. 🙂

Lake Agnes was still a little icy when we visited it in the beginning of July, but only icy enough to look special. We continued on the lakeshore and up to the Big Beehive lookout, and the views of Lake Agnes were just as stunning from above, moreover, the mountain views were also breathtaking as we climbed above the lake.

The story of the name

The first white woman who visited the lake was called Agnes — Agnes Knox, a public speaker from Toronto. Later Lady Macdonald, the wife of Canada’s first prime minister, also visited the lake and was told that the lake would be named after her. She was also called Agnes.

What to do at Lake Agnes?

• hike up to the lake from Lake Louise
• have a tea in the historical teahouse
• conquer the Little Beehive or Big Beehive lookouts

Lake Moraine, Banff National Park

The view of Lake Moraine surrounded by the Valley of the Ten Peaks was immortalized on Canada’s twenty-dollar bills. Surely, they are views that last with you for a lifetime!

Lake Moraine is at 1885 meters, and it’s frozen between October and June. Once thawed it impresses visitors with insanely turquoise water colors (again, it’s a glacial lake), decorated with views of ice-capped mountains. The best view is from the top of the Rockpile which is a few hundred meters hike, including climbing a series of stairs. This is also the “twenty-dollar view”.

But we enjoyed walking on the lakeshore, too. The lakeshore trail runs directly on the shore, offering lake views all the way. It sounds obvious, but it’s not the case for many lakeshore trails in general.

How to access Lake Moraine?

The popularity of Moraine Lake competes with Lake Louise, only it has a smaller parking lot. It means you need to arrive by 5:30 am in the summer months to get a parking spot. Once the parking lot is full, Parks Canada closes the road to Lake Moraine. Your best way to access the lake is the shuttle bus that I’ve already mentioned. It’s the same shuttle bus that departs from the Lake Louise Ski Resort, you can book a route to either Lake Louise or Lake Moraine. Once at your chosen lake, you can take the transfer bus to the other lake, too, then back to the Park & Ride.

Unlike Lake Louise and many other lakes along the Icefields Parkway, Moraine Lake can only be accessed from late May to October. Otherwise the road is closed, because it crosses avalanche paths.

What to do at Lake Moraine?

• hike up to the Rockpile viewpointAdvertisements
• walk the lakeshore trail
• kayak or paddleboard on the lake
• hike from the lake — to Consolation Lakes, to Larch Valley or many other routes

Two Jack Lake, Banff National Park

Two Jack Lake is close to the town of Banff and right by the road. It’s a picturesque emerald green lake with views of towering Mount Rundle. It’s a popular lake for summer water sports like kayaking, canoeing, SUP or fishing. You can swim, too, though I’d rather say you can take a dip if you want to. Two Jack Lake has some shallower bays, but it’s still a glacial lake and warms up to only about 4–5°C. (Tomi got cold just because I let him put his feet in the lake for too long. It seemed okay because other kids splashed around in the water, and he said he didn’t feel cold. My senses told me otherwise, but I didn’t listen to them. I should have.)

However, I enjoyed the 4.7 km out-and-back lakeshore trail along Two Jack Lake very much. It’s surprisingly serene and quiet, as most people are in the area near the parking lot or the campground. It’s also completely flat and very easy, and runs directly on the shore all the way. Two Jack Lake might not be as well-known for amazing colors as other glacial lakes in the area, but that’s why it swept me off my feet. It has wonderful colors!

The story of the name

Are you wondering about the name? “Two Jack” is exactly what you’d think of: two Jacks. The first was Jack Stanley — he operated a boat concession on Lake Minnewanka. The second one was Jack Watters — he worked at the mines in Bankhead, at the base of Cascade Mountain.

What to do at Two Jack Lake?

• enjoy the Minnewanka scenic drive
• try any of the water sports at Two Jack Lake
• hike the lakeshore trail

Cascade Ponds, Banff National Park

What?! Ponds, not even lakes? Wait, while you see them.

Cascade Ponds are a series of emerald green ponds that lie under Cascade Mountain. They’re located right off the Trans-Canada Highway, in the very beginning of the Minnewanka scenic drive. It’s an ideal picnic stop before or after you visit Two Jack Lake or Lake Minnewanka.

An hour or two is perfectly enough for the Cascade Ponds, and make sure you bring something to eat as there are plenty of benches and even fire pits. A short walking trail loop around the two main ponds, it’s very easy and very picturesque, don’t miss it.

We liked the Cascade Ponds so much that we came back again, and we spent our very last morning picnic in the Rockies here. Speaking of picnics: never leave your food or trash behind. You can find bear-proof bins at Cascade Ponds (or any other picnic areas or trailheads in the Rockies), those are the places to put your trash safely. Don’t feed wildlife, not even chipmunks, it’s harmful both for humans and wild animals.

What to do at Cascade Ponds?

• have a picnic or even a BBQ
• walk around the ponds and take many pictures
• kayak or paddleboard on the calm waters

Emerald Lake, Yoho National Park

Emerald Lake is the largest one in Yoho National Park, and it was discovered during the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1882. Obviously, it’s named after its beautiful emerald waters, and it’s a glacial lake like many others with these mesmerizing hues. The backdrop of Mount Burgess and Wapta Mountain only adds to the magic.

You can drive directly to the lakeshore, which makes it popular. There’s also an easy, flat loop trail (~5 km) around the lake. It offers pretty views, but trees block the view from time to time, so it’s not such a perfect lakeshore trail as the one at Moraine Lake or Two Jack Lake.

Parking is less of a nightmare than at the popular Banff lakes, because once the parking lot fills up, you can still park on the road shoulders. But on a busy day you might need to walk a kilometer along the road to get to the lake.

What to do at Emerald Lake?

• walk the lakeshore loop trail
• kayak on the lake
• stay in the Emerald Lake Lodge for a luxurious wilderness experience

Sherbrooke Lake, Yoho National Park

You’re tempted to think that it’s crowded in the Canadian Rockies in the summer no matter where you go. It’s not true. We’ve hiked several trails where we were almost alone. Not at Lake Louise for sure. But the trick is leaving some time to visit places that are not so famous. The reason for lack of fame is not lack of beauty. Simply, not everything can be famous, and some places are easier to access and closer to the main tourist path than others.

Sherbrooke Lake in Yoho National Park is one of the lesser-known gems. It can be reached on a 3 km hiking trail that begins from a small parking area right by the Trans-Canada Highway across from Wapta Lake. Most of the hike is a steadily ascending route in the forest, but you can get a few peeks at snow-capped mountains on the way. The trail is clearly marked, there’s a junction for Paget Lookout Trail, but Sherbrooke Lake is in the other direction. As the trail levels out and you get your first views of Sherbrooke Lake, you’ll fall for it immediately.

It’s a wonderful turquoise mountain lake, surrounded by the peaks of Mt Ogden, Cathedral Mountain and Mt Niles. The main difference to other glacial lakes is that barely anyone visits Sherbrooke Lake, so it was such a serene wilderness experience for us!

However, the last section of the trail was very muddy as the snow had just melted in early July. The water level was also quite high, we could only walk on the lakeshore for a short while, because the rest of the lakeshore trail was flooded.

Upper Kananaskis Lake, Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, Kananaskis Country

Had I done enough research, we’d have never visited Upper Kananaskis Lake. I prefer natural lakes to reservoirs, and surely, I longed for experiencing wild beauties in the Canadian Rockies. But skipping Upper Kananaskis Lake would have been a huge mistake. It became our favorite place in Kananaskis Country!

Yes, it’s a reservoir, but it’s a natural lake that was turned into a reservoir. It’s part of the series of reservoirs in the Kananaskis and Bow Valleys that are used for hydroelectric power and flood control. It’s also part of Peter Lougheed Provincial Park and offers amazing recreation opportunities. Kayaking, canoeing or boating on the lake are popular, and there’s a ~15 km hiking trail around the lake.

We expected this hiking trail to be easy work for high rewards, but it exceeded our expectations. It’s not completely flat, but has very little elevation difference, while it offers fantastic views of Upper Kananaskis Lake and the surrounding majestic mountain peaks. Some random waterfall views, like Sarrail Falls, are also included. It feels like exploring the untouched wilderness without actually venturing far.

Getting to Upper Kananaskis Lake is also easy. The road is paved all the way, it’s right along Highway 40 (the Kananaskis Trail).

What to do at Upper Kananaskis Lake?

• hike the Upper Kananaskis Lake TrailAdvertisements
• try other hiking trails, like Rawson Lake Trail
• kayak, boat or paddleboard on the lake
• have a picnic on the benches at Upper Kananaskis Lake Day Use Area

More popular activities in the Canadian Rockies

Now it’s your turn. What’s your favorite lake in the Canadian Rockies? Disclosure: Please note that affiliate links are used in this post, and at no additional cost to you, we earn a commission if you make a purchase. This is how we pay our bills and keep our blog free for you to enjoy. 🙂

Originally published at https://ourwanders.com on September 20, 2022.