Banff - Lake Louise/Moraine Lake Hikes

August 18-21, 2022

My twin sister and I road-tripped out to Banff from Vancouver for a fun adventure! Neither of us had been to the Rockies before. We did several popular hikes while we were in Banff. None were overly long or difficult (this wasn't the time to be my usual peak-bagger self). The Lake Louise hikes were Plain of the Six Glaciers, and Big Beehive. The Moraine Lake hike was Sentinel Pass.

Plain of the Six Glaciers

14km

514m elevation gain

This is a popular hike at Lake Louise. My sister and I took the bus to the lake on a very hot, somewhat smoky day.

The picturesque Lake Louise

Me and my twin sister Stephanie

The trail goes around the north side of the lake and then climbs above a barren river valley and follows it to a viewpoint overlooking the area where there used to be six glaciers. The hike is not long nor hard. We made it in under 2 hours and we were not moving particularly fast.

Following the barren rocky slopes

Six glaciers? Where? (All are almost gone now)

Looking back at Lake Louise

A drainage gully

Beautiful fields of fireweed in bloom

Big Beehive

11km

718m elevation gain

Big Beehive is one of several lookouts above Lake Agnes. We did this right after Plain of the Six Glaciers. We backtracked on the trail and then took the Highline Trail up to the rocky lookout known as Big Beehive.

At Big Beehive overlooking Lake Louise

From there, we descended down to Agnes Lake where we took a refreshing dip. We met some food conditioned golden mantled ground squirrels. We walked around the north side of the lake and then went back down to Lake Louise via the Lake Agnes trail.

Agnes Lake from above

Western side of Agnes Lake

This golden mantled ground squirrel was not scared at all

Fields of Indian paintbrush. Lots of beautiful wildflowers were to be seen.

On the east side of Agnes Lake

Sentinel Pass

11km

749m elevation gain

This was a stunning hike. The trail starts from Moraine Lake. It gradually works its way through a valley until it reaches Minnestima Lakes. You then climb the rocky slopes to reach the famed Sentinel Pass. It only took us 1.5 hours from the trailhead.

Minnestima Lake below Sentinel Pass

Climbing the slopes to reach the pass

Looking back at Minnestima Lakes

On top of the world

Overlooking Sentinel Pass

Looking east at Mount Temple

Close up shot of Mount Temple

View of Moraine Lake on the way back

After our hike, my sister and I went kayaking around Moraine Lake. At one point, we stopped at a small beach to swim.

Kayaking at Moraine Lake

Moraine Lake. Just like Lake Louise, it's a bright blue colour due to how cold it is.

I wish we had been able to spend more time in Banff but we still got in a short and sweet trip to a truly beautiful place in the Rockies.