Moraine Lake

One of the most beautiful vistas in the world…

Catch it on a summer morning and spectacular Moraine Lake in the Canadian Rockies will leave you speechless.

Famous view from The Rockpile at Moraine Lake, Alberta, Canada

Moraine Lake

Moraine Lake is 14 KM southeast of Lake Louise Village. After exiting the village and heading toward Lake Louise, the road branches with signage for Moraine Lake.

As with Lake Louise, Moraine Lake stays frozen until early June, with low water levels until late June. The lake fills up with snow and glacial melt off the mountains.

The glacier fed water here is a vivid shade of turquoise blue, whereas Lake Louise is a more emerald blue.

Moraine Lake from The Rockpile

Canoes on the lake with reflections in the water, taken from The Rockpile (in zoom)

Discovery after Lake Louise

Moraine Lake sits in the Valley of the Ten Peaks. Indigenous people lived and hunted in the region long before European settlers arrived, and the Valley of the Ten Peaks was part of their homeland.

In 1892, Tom Wilson, an explorer for the Canadian Pacific Railway, first stood in front of Lake Louise. In the following years, he hired students from Yale to help explore the area.

In 1894, Samuel Allen, was mapping the area when saw the Ten Peaks from Sentinel Pass on the northwest side of Moraine Lake. Assisted by Stony Nakoda First Nations guides, he originally named the peaks from one to ten in Stony Nakoda language. Most of the peaks have since been renamed.

Five years later in 1899, Walter Wilcox hiked up the valley, climbed the rockpile, and came across the stunning view. He named it Moraine Lake, after the moraine, the pile of rocks we are standing on.

By 1902, Canadian Pacific Railway had built a road up to the lake, and eventually, a tea house and cabins. After the lodge changed ownership a number of times, the current lodge was built in 1988.

Walter Wilcox photo of Moraine Lake in 1909

Rockpile Trail Postcard View

You may never find a more beautiful sight than the postcard view of Moraine Lake from The Rockpile viewpoint. It was used on the back of Canadian twenty-dollar bills from 1969 to 1979.

If you have some flexibility on when you visit, watch the weather forecast and visit Moraine Lake on a sunny day. I arrived on an early summer morning, and the following was ideal:

Visit the Rockpile around 8am or earlier, when most of the lake is still shaded with sun-lit mountains spectacularly reflected in the lake. Arriving even earlier, you can catch sunrise on the mountain peaks.
Then leisurely walk the Lakeshore Trail, taking in the views all the way to the back of the lake.
Visit the Rockpile one more time closer to 11am or so, after the sun has lit up the entire lake and it shines a brilliant blue.

Moraine Lake view from The Rockpile in the morning (July 20, 2020) - notice the fabulous reflections in the shaded water of the sunlit mountains.

Moraine Lake view from The Rockpile in around 11 am (July 20, 2020) after the sun has lit up the entire lake into a beautiful turquoise color.

Lakeshore Trail

The beautiful Lakeshore Trail allows for a relaxing stroll, basking in its many picturesque views along the way.

Along the way you can hear the roar of rushing water, progressively getting louder.

The trail comes to an end with a boardwalk at the back of the lake with small-scale rapids where glacial meltwater flows over rocks into the lake.

Moraine Lake view along Lakeshore Trail

Meltwater flowing into the back of Moraine Lake

More Trails

Below are some other popular trails around Moraine Lake. Further information on these and others including scrambles and difficult trails can be found on AllTrails.com. Best to check Lake Louise Visitor Center for warnings restrictions prior to embarking - may need to hike in groups of 4 and carry bear spray.

Consolation Lakes Trail: Easy, 2.9 km one way, 65 m elevation gain. Scenic trail starts by the Moraine Lake Rockpile, passes over a rocky section, then proceeds through a forest before reaching Babel Creek Medow followed by the Consolation Lakes.
Larch Valley Trail: Moderate, 4.3 km one way, 535 m elevation gain. Starts just past the Moraine Lake Lodge, branching off the Lakeshore Trail through a forest with some zig-zags to the larch meadows. The larch tree has needles which turn a yellow-gold in the fall, attracting photographers. Its yellow season starts mid-September and only lasts a few weeks. The larch drops its needles over winter and sprout green needs in the spring.
Lake Annette Trail: Moderate, 5.7 km one way, 245 m elevation gain. This trail starts at the Paradise Creek parking lot on the Moraine Lake Road, just 2.4 km from the Lake Louise Drive turn-off. The trail follows the creek through the forest to reach Lake Annette with a view of Mount Temple. Bears have been known to frequent this area.
Eiffel Lake Trail: Moderate, 5.6 km one way, 370 m elevation gain. Starts just past the Moraine Lake Lodge, sharing the trailhead with Larch Valley Trail. At the lower edge of the Larch Valley, the Eiffel Lake trail branches with views of the Valley of the Ten Peaks, eventually reaching the lake.
Sentinel Pass Trail: Difficult, 5.8 km one way, 725 m elevation gain. This trail starts at the end of the Larch Valley Trail, with a zig-zag up the steep mountain pass. The top offers 360-degree views: looking south over the Larch Valley, Minnestimma Lakes in the Valley of the Ten Peaks; looking north over Paradise Valley.

Larch Valley, Alberta, Canada

by Paul Anthony Stewart, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Lower Consolation Lake, Alberta, Canada

Consolation-Lake-Szmurlo, by I, Chuck Szmurlo, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Other Summer Activities

Moraine Lake is very much an excursion from Lake Louise. Visit our Lake Louise page for other trails around the lake. Additional activities are:

Brewster Adventures provides horseback rides in the Lake Louise area, from shorter 1.5-hour scenic lake view ride, to longer 3 to 5 hour rides up to Lake Agnes, Beehives or Plain of Six Glaciers. Consider a BBQ and dance for a complete western experience. The Brewster family has provided outfitting and pack trips in the Lake Louise area for more than 100 years – located close to the chateau. Brewster Adventures.

A short drive across Highway 1 from Lake Louise village is Lake Louise Ski Resort. Ride its gondola for fabulous panoramic views of Bow Valley, including Mount Victoria and Lake Louise in the distance. Upper mountain hiking trails also branch out from the top of the gondola. Enjoy a drink or lunch on the Whitehorn Bistro patio with fabulous views – consider reserving your table in advance.

Watch the Video

Watch Jim’s video on Moraine Lake (click the image below),

and subscribe to Haswell Travelled YouTube channel - much appreciated!

How to Get Here

Car: Starting 2023, Parks Canada no longer allows personal vehicles down the Moraine Lake Road. You should be able to catch a Parks Canada shuttle at the Lake Louise Park and Ride Overflow lot just 6 KM south on the main highway.

Note: a stop here, or anywhere in Canada’s National Parks requires a National Park Pass.

And coming here, you must also visit nearby Lake Louise.

Transit: You can also consider arriving by bus such as with Roam Transit from the town of Banff. And a Hop-On-Banff tourist bus also runs between a number of locations in Banff National Park including Lake Louise, its village, Gondola and Moraine Lake, so it would be best to plan ahead and make reservations.

Tour: Some day tours run to Moraine Lake and Lake Louise, often combined with other regional destinations - departing from Calgary or town of Banff.