Hikes Around Lake Louise
All the Lake Louise trails are busy in summer, but they're good for a short taste of the scenery. They're also well worn and well marked, so you don't need to be a seasoned hiker or skilled map-reader. The two most popular end at teahouses - mountain chalets selling welcome, but rather pricey, snacks. The signed Lake Agnes Trail (3.4km), said to be the most-walked path in the Rockies (but don't let that put you off), strikes off from the right (north) shore of the lake immediately past the hotel. It's a gradual, 400-metre climb, relieved by ever more magnificent views and a teahouse beautifully situated beside mountain-cradled Lake Agnes (2135m); allow one to two hours. Beyond the teahouse, if you want more of a walk things quieten down considerably. You can continue on the right side of the lake and curve left around its head to climb to an easily reached pass. Here a 200-metre stroll to the left brings you to Big Beehive (2255m), an incredible eyrie, 1km from the teahouse. Almost as rewarding is the trail, also 1km from the teahouse, to Little Beehive, a mite lower, but still privy to full-blown panoramas over the broad sweep of the Bow Valley. Keener walkers can return to the pass from Big Beehive and turn left to follow the steep trail down to intersect another trail; turning right leads west through rugged and increasingly barren scenery to the second teahouse at the Plain of the Six Glaciers (2100m). Alternatively, the more monotonous Six Glaciers Trail (leaving out the whole Lake Agnes-Big Beehive section) leads from the hotel along the lakeshore to the same point (5.3km to the teahouse; 365m ascent). However, a better option is to follow the Lake Agnes and Big Beehive route to the Plain, then use the Six Glaciers Trail for the return to Chateau Lake Louise , which neatly ends the day's loop with a downhill stroll and an easy but glorious finale along the shore of Lake Louise . The main appeal of the last local walk, the less-used Saddleback Trail (3.7km one-way), is that it provides access to the superlative viewpoint of Fairview Mountain. Allow from one to two hours to Saddleback itself (2330m; 595m ascent); the trail to the summit of Fairview (2745m) strikes off right from here. Even if you don't make the last push, the Saddleback views - across to the 1200-metre wall of Mount Temple (3544m) - are staggering. Despite the people, this is one of the park's top short walks
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