TR - four different day hikes in Banff National Park

[jartelt]

I spent a week in Banff National Park last September and was able to go on several different day hikes. Each of the hikes started at a different lake within the park. We visited Moraine Lake, Peyto Lake, Bow Lake, and Lake Louise. A typical experience is to drive to a lake, park your car and take in the great views of the lake, then find the trail head and begin a hike which leads to even better views of the lake and surrounding mountains!

We stuck to trails that were relatively short for the most part (<10 miles round trip), but were still able to get some great views. If you are comfortable scrambling, there are ample opportunities to reach the top of several peaks in the area. I imagine the views from the top of the peaks would be awesome. Below are some of the highlights from the trails. Here is a link to a more comprehensive report I wrote up with all my pictures of the trails: https://backpackers-review.com/trip-rep ... ighlights/

Moraine Lake and the Eiffel Lake Trail:

Beautiful Moraine Lake as seen from near the parking lot


Moraine Lake from the shore


Moraine Lake from Eiffel Lake Trail


Hiking along the Eiffel Lake Trail


Eiffel Lake and Wenkchemna Pass



Peyto Lake and the Bow Summit Overlook Trail:

Peyto Look as seen from one of the upper lookout points


Peyto Lake from the lower viewpoint


View of Bow Valley from the Bow Summit Overlook Trail


View of Bow Lake from the Bow Summit Overlook


Panoramic view of Peyto Lake



Bow Lake and the Bow Glacier Falls Trail:

Bow Lake from the shore


Bow Glacier Falls Trail along the shore of Bow Lake


Crowfoot Mountain over Bow Lake


Canyon with stream feed by Bow Glacier Falls


Bow Glacier Falls



Lake Louise and the Plain of Six Glaciers Trail:

Lake Louise from near the parking lot


Lake Louise and Fairview Mountain


Looking towards the Plain of Six Glaciers


Near the end point of the Plain of Six Glaciers Trail and viewpoint

[rlown]

Nice TR!

[wildhiker]

Nice photos!

[tarbuckle]

WOW !

[Wandering Daisy]

I loved those photos! We were in the same general area a few years ago but unfortunately, were plagued by smoke from on-going fires in the Pacific NW so our photos were disappointing. I spent considerable time up there when I was younger since I grew up in Spokane WA. The melting of the glaciers is what shocked me (as well as the amount of Chinese tourists!), since I had roamed the area in the 1960's. It is a great destination, but just the tip of the iceberg- lots more both in the Canadian Rockies as well as all the ranges to the west. It is well worth the effort.

[jartelt]

We were very lucky in that it rained the week before we arrived. Before the rain, there was terrible visibility from the summer 2018 fires and we heard that many people were cancelling their trips to Banff because the air was unhealthy. Our views were not perfect, but we were super grateful!