Lake Louise is a lake in Alberta, Canada. The glacial lake is located in Banff National Park, 5 km from the hamlet of Lake Louise and the Trans-Canada Highway.

The emerald colour of the water comes from rock flour carried into the lake by melt-water from the glaciers that overlook the lake. The lake has a surface of 0.8 km2 and is drained through the 3 km long Louise Creek into the Bow River.

A variety of hiking trails exist around the lake. Hiking trails include trips to Saddleback Pass, Fairview Mountain 2,744 m, Mirror Lake, Lake Agnes, Big Beehive, Little Beehive, Devils Thumb, Mount Whyte, and Mount Niblock. Some of these trails are open to mountain biking and horseback riding, and the surrounding mountain faces offer opportunities for rock climbing. Kayaking and canoeing are popular activities during summer, and a boat launch and rental facility are maintained on the north-eastern shore.

Lake and Delta
Where does all mountain debris go? It heads directly into our many mountain lakes. A fast flowing river has the ability to carry immense loads. Unfortunately, the speed of rivers drops rapidly as the river enters a lake. This rapidly reduces the water’s ability to carry material, and so the river’s sediments are quickly deposited at the entrance to the lake. Soon deltas begin to form, and the process of in-filling begins. Already Peyto Lake has a delta covering almost 1/3 of its former length. Eventually, all that will remain will be a braided stream flowing across the flat delta left behind by the deposition of incalculable amounts of sediment. It’s taken almost 10,000 years to create the delta we see today on Peyto Lake. It will still take thousands more before the lake disappears. A similar delta can be seen by hiking to the far end of Lake Louise.


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