Hiking /Trails/horseback trails, Lake Louise

All of Banff National Park has magnificent scenery and lots of places to hike. I found the trails to be very clean, well maintained and well marked. Around Lake Louise there are a lot of paths, you can mix and match trails, hopping off one onto another, quite a bit.

If, like me, you came out here to enjoy nature and do some hiking, you will be very happy. For those who don't want to hike, you can just take the trail around the lake itself..its only 2 km and you can easily do it in an hour. This trail is likely to be very crowded since all the day trippers come up to Lake Louise to gasp at the color of the lake and then take a little stroll around the lake before getting back on the bus.

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On my third day in Lake Louise I had to improvise because on my hostel advised me not to go to Paradise Valley area or Moraine Lake due to bears activity, and such a blast. They told me was fined so i couldnt go to that area and Sentinel pass.. so i took my car and drove some kilometers towards Banff... i cant give you the exact km point where is the parking lot but driving carefully you will find the place on the right side of the road.. On the parking lot nobody was there..just me and my car. hopefully i wont find anybody on my day hike. I got ready all my stuff and lets go .. the first 200 hundred meters the path is plain and with no other dificulty but mud and a narrow one in order to get the mountain slope. i knew that the hike will be for 6 kilometers and it was real, 6km so steep in so many parts that require a good trim and despite the path is quite wide is so steep and hard on some gaps. Walking alone by this lands made me so so happy and I miss so much remembering those moments.. the trail runs beneath lush fir forests on the upper part and other tree species during all hike crossing several times the stream that falls down all the way from Taylor lake and the mountains and glaciers some thousand meters higher.
Final meters never arrive..or seems that... due to you can see that the forest is less depper and the sun shine some parts of the path till at last u get a muddy plain (like marshes) straight to the lake bending a little bit to the right to reach the "picnic" area .
the first view of the lake and the mountains around is terrific, stuning, glorious. Just me and nature, why more !!

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From mirror lake there are two options to climb to Big Beehive..the first is taking the fork to the left leaving the lake to your right and get straight towards valley of six glaciers. Just before the first kilometer there's a detour to the right so steep from the first moment.. leaving back a precious sight of Lake Louise from the heights and with nobody to disturb you. That detour will guide you for a kilometer more that seemed to me 3 or 4 to the pass on the top.. a switchback narrow trail full of rockies and sand so strenous and demanding so much effort.. there's so much gradient !!
Once in the pass was all covered by snow.. from there turn right to get to the edge of the beehive where a cottage is waiting your visit. This last part is so beautiful and looks like a maze ..sometimes the you lose the path just for a while ..there's no other way but get straight..
Such a peacefull moment just there alone with a grand valley overview on my first day in canadian rockies.. i cant demand much for my first day !!!!

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I got Lake Louise after spend a weekend in Calgary on a friend's pad at mid morning. Perfect time to buy something on the grocery store next to the visitors center. Just after unpacked my stuff i wore my hiking boots towards Moraine lake and Lake louise... the road is so steep after Lake Louise village and leads to the fork after 2km among Moraine and Louise...such a disappointment.. the road was closed due to the bloody berry Bears season ..it means that there are many chances to cross your way with bears getting ready for the winter. Such a pitty.. so i had to go to Louise where i parked my toyta yaris rented in San Francisco in the huge parking lot..
This treeking would be the starter one before the huge train of next day in Yoho National Park (BC) and 40 kms away from Lake Louise.. so after 100 meters from the parking lot you get dazed for a great landscape crowded by people doing the same ..pictures to the lake as a mirror of the six glacier plain just in front and the mountains more than 3000 m high

Mt. Fairview is a 9000 ft mountain just to the left of the lake (if you're viewing it from the parking lot). From next to the lake, climbing it seems like a daunting task, but, despite the fact that it is very tiring, it is something that an out of shape person like me can do. The entire climb is just walking (no advanced equipment necessary) The climb starts through the woods, passess through an avalanche area (where the trees have been knocked down) that gives you great views of the valley below and surrounding mountains. From there you pass some rocky areas, climb over the tree line, and follow a steep rocky path to the peak. From the peak you can get a 360 degree view with a birdseye view of the lake (amazing!) and see glaciers on the surrounding mountains. The whole climb took about 5 hours round trip (more in shape people could probably do it faster). The hike isn't for everyone, so know when to turn around. Make sure you have plenty of water and snacks. Keep track of the weather, since at high altitudes conditions change pretty quickly. There is only one way up, so make sure you find the correct path when you're walking back down.

That is why you are here isn't it. To get lost in nature. Thick pine trees surround Lake Louise and the mountains provide an awesome backdrop to a serious hike. There are different levels of hikes that you can take around the Lake Louise area. Stay close to the lake for the easier hike or head up the trails that go deep into the brush. Hire a guide that will take you around the area nad tell you about the local landscape.

Whether you hike, cross-country ski or snowshoe, hundreds of kilometers (or miles) of trails (from easy to challenging) lead into the spectacular mountain scenery called Banff National Park. One of these hikes leads you up to the top of Little Beehive Mountain (the trailhead starts at Chateau Lake Louise).

Lake Louise lures hikers, I am not one of them!!! The walk around the lake is quite a leisurely experience with plenty of local wildlife ignoring you as they scurry about looking for that small morsel that the tourists may drop.
Hikers were everywhere and several had bells attached to their boots. As they were noisy and not very peaceful I asked a well trodden and weary hiker why she used these bells. "It is to scare the bears" was her reply before she went on to add..."But sometimes the noise p***es 'em off and they chase you anyway!" Makes me glad I don't hike in the mountains and simply stick to the paths around the lake!
This area, after modifications to its name and boundary, became Banff National Park - assuring that its natural wonders would be unspoiled for generations to come. Banff National Park now encompasses 2,564 square miles of the Canadian Rocky Mountains along the Continental Divide.