Moraine Lake & The Valley of the Ten Peaks: How to Book Shuttles, the Rockpile & Hikes

Tucked inside a narrow hanging valley 14 kilometres up a winding mountain road from Lake Louise Village at 1,885 metres elevation, Moraine Lake is widely considered the most photographed alpine lake in the world. Backed by a continuous, sawtooth wall of ten 3,000-metre peaks, the Valley of the Ten Peaks, its water turns an almost unbelievable shade of deep sapphire-turquoise that graced the back of Canada's 1969 and 1979 Twenty-Dollar Banknotes (earning it the lifelong nickname 'The Twenty-Dollar View').

1. How to Get to Moraine Lake

Because the small parking lot at Moraine Lake used to fill up before dawn every summer night, Parks Canada permanently closed Moraine Lake Road to all private passenger vehicles. Here are the 3 best ways to get there between 1 June and mid-October:

1. The Official Parks Canada Park & Ride Shuttle: park your car for free at the huge Lake Louise Ski Resort Park & Ride lot just off Highway 1. Your single shuttle reservation includes your ride up to Moraine Lake, the free Lake Connector Bus over to Lake Louise, and your ride back down whenever you finish.(Crucial Tip: 40% of seats open in April, and the remaining 60% of seats open online at reservation.pc.gc.ca early in the morning Mountain Time exactly 2 days / 48 hours before your travel date. Set an alarm for early in the morning two days prior and log in ready to click).
2. Roam Public Transit Route 10 or Route 8X Reservoir Super Pass: departs directly from downtown Banff Town without needing a car.
3. Sunrise Private Shuttle Operators: licensed local vans (such as Moraine Lake Bus Company, Via Via or Fairview Limo) run before dawn and before dawn sunrise trips before the early in the morning Parks Canada shuttles start.

2. The 3 Best Walks at Moraine Lake

• The Rockpile Trail: starts right behind the shuttle drop-off and climbs up a natural glacial moraine rockslide via stone steps to the famous upper wooden viewing decks.
• Consolation Lakes Trail: branches left from the base of the Rockpile through boulder fields and pine forest to two peaceful, uncrowded alpine lakes beneath the hanging glaciers of Mount Babel and Mount Quadra.
• Larch Valley & Sentinel Pass: the #1 autumn hike in Canada when thousands of high-alpine larch trees turn brilliant gold between 15 September and 5 October.