IN BANFF NATIONAL PARK

One of the most famous spots in the massive country of Canada- Moraine Lake. Moraine Lake is known for its stunning blue waters, insane mountain views towering all around the lake, insane hikes, and the chance to float on the surreal blue water.

Moraine Lake is located inBanff National Park, fairly close to Lake Louise. With its popularity tripling over the last 3-4 years, it’s not only difficult to canoe on the lake, but it can be even difficult just to see the lake. The road to the lake is only open from May long weekend to Thanksgiving in October. This is due to migration patterns for wildlife, and very high avalanche risk in the winter in the area. Making the road unsafe to drive in the winter. You can opt to bike to the lake in the spring months before the road opens, and people are known to cross country ski to the lake at the beginning of winter! But keep in mind of the avalanche risk- and the fact that its a 14km trip one way (: If you want to learn more about the road and how to access it, see Parks Canada information about Moraine Lake here.

And when the road does open, the parking lot fills up QUICK. So timing of day and honestly, pure luck, are super important. If you’re looking to drive to the lake (which you’ll need to do if you want to bring your own canoe) this is a tricky part of the trip to navigate, as you won’t know if the parking lot is full until you get there. And it it’s full, you just get told to turn around and try again later! If you just want to visit the lake for a short trip however, you can take the shuttle that Banff National Parks offers. Learn more about the shuttle here!

Once you get to Moraine Lake, you are completely secluded- other than Moraine Lake Lodge. An amazing accommodation if you’re lucky enough to get a reservation! Learn more about the lodge here.

Now you don’t have to bring your own canoe to Moraine Lake. You can rent one from the lodge! These rentals can be pricey however, and do have time limits due to popularity. But it’s a super convenient option if you don’t have your own canoe/can’t transport one to the lake! Learn about rentals here.

If you don’t want to rent right from the lake and you can make it happen, you are totally allowed to bring your own! However there are steps to make sure that you are not only following rules, but also keeping the environment in mind Banff National Park released in 2021 that for anyone to use their own watercraft / personal water craft (boat, canoe, paddle board, etc.) they need a self-certification for their watercraft. Which sounds complicated, but is actually incredibly easy to obtain! You can find more on how to get the self certification & what you need for it right here.

Essentially it was created to stop cross contamination of species from different bodies of water to come into the park. So it was put in for good reason! And is a big way to advocate for other Leave No Trace principles!

One of the most famous spots in the massive country of Canada- Moraine Lake. Moraine Lake is known for its stunning blue waters, insane mountain views towering all around the lake, insane hikes, and the chance to float on the surreal blue water.

Moraine Lake is located inBanff National Park, fairly close to Lake Louise. With its popularity tripling over the last 3-4 years, it’s not only difficult to canoe on the lake, but it can be even difficult just to see the lake. The road to the lake is only open from May long weekend to Thanksgiving in October. This is due to migration patterns for wildlife, and very high avalanche risk in the winter in the area. Making the road unsafe to drive in the winter. You can opt to bike to the lake in the spring months before the road opens, and people are known to cross country ski to the lake at the beginning of winter! But keep in mind of the avalanche risk- and the fact that its a 14km trip one way (: If you want to learn more about the road and how to access it, see Parks Canada information about Moraine Lake here.

And when the road does open, the parking lot fills up QUICK. So timing of day and honestly, pure luck, are super important. If you’re looking to drive to the lake (which you’ll need to do if you want to bring your own canoe) this is a tricky part of the trip to navigate, as you won’t know if the parking lot is full until you get there. And it it’s full, you just get told to turn around and try again later! If you just want to visit the lake for a short trip however, you can take the shuttle that Banff National Parks offers. Learn more about the shuttle here!

Once you get to Moraine Lake, you are completely secluded- other than Moraine Lake Lodge. An amazing accommodation if you’re lucky enough to get a reservation! Learn more about the lodge here.

Now you don’t have to bring your own canoe to Moraine Lake. You can rent one from the lodge! These rentals can be pricey however, and do have time limits due to popularity. But it’s a super convenient option if you don’t have your own canoe/can’t transport one to the lake! Learn about rentals here.

If you don’t want to rent right from the lake and you can make it happen, you are totally allowed to bring your own! However there are steps to make sure that you are not only following rules, but also keeping the environment in mind Banff National Park released in 2021 that for anyone to use their own watercraft / personal water craft (boat, canoe, paddle board, etc.) they need a self-certification for their watercraft. Which sounds complicated, but is actually incredibly easy to obtain! You can find more on how to get the self certification & what you need for it right here.

Essentially it was created to stop cross contamination of species from different bodies of water to come into the park. So it was put in for good reason! And is a big way to advocate for other Leave No Traceprinciples!

Since we don’t actually own our own canoe, we actually rented one in Calgary where we live, and drove it out to the mountains! We were able to get a rental from the University of Calgary where we could take the canoe one day, and return it the next day. You can find out about their rentalshere.

After getting our rental, and our certification to use it, we were set. And set out to have this amazing summer adventure. We actually wouldn’t even have done this if I didn’t have a couple who were set on canoeing on Moraine Lake for their engagement session. And y’know what? We made it happen! You can read about their adventure here!

One of the most famous spots in the massive country of Canada- Moraine Lake. Moraine Lake is known for its stunning blue waters, insane mountain views towering all around the lake, insane hikes, and the chance to float on the surreal blue water.

Moraine Lake is located inBanff National Park, fairly close to Lake Louise. With its popularity tripling over the last 3-4 years, it’s not only difficult to canoe on the lake, but it can be even difficult just to see the lake. The road to the lake is only open from May long weekend to Thanksgiving in October. This is due to migration patterns for wildlife, and very high avalanche risk in the winter in the area. Making the road unsafe to drive in the winter. You can opt to bike to the lake in the spring months before the road opens, and people are known to cross country ski to the lake at the beginning of winter! But keep in mind of the avalanche risk- and the fact that its a 14km trip one way (: If you want to learn more about the road and how to access it, see Parks Canada information about Moraine Lake here.

And when the road does open, the parking lot fills up QUICK. So timing of day and honestly, pure luck, are super important. If you’re looking to drive to the lake (which you’ll need to do if you want to bring your own canoe) this is a tricky part of the trip to navigate, as you won’t know if the parking lot is full until you get there. And it it’s full, you just get told to turn around and try again later! If you just want to visit the lake for a short trip however, you can take the shuttle that Banff National Parks offers. Learn more about the shuttle here!

Once you get to Moraine Lake, you are completely secluded- other than Moraine Lake Lodge. An amazing accommodation if you’re lucky enough to get a reservation! Learn more about the lodge here.

Now you don’t have to bring your own canoe to Moraine Lake. You can rent one from the lodge! These rentals can be pricey however, and do have time limits due to popularity. But it’s a super convenient option if you don’t have your own canoe/can’t transport one to the lake! Learn about rentals here.

If you don’t want to rent right from the lake and you can make it happen, you are totally allowed to bring your own! However there are steps to make sure that you are not only following rules, but also keeping the environment in mind Banff National Park released in 2021 that for anyone to use their own watercraft / personal water craft (boat, canoe, paddle board, etc.) they need a self-certification for their watercraft. Which sounds complicated, but is actually incredibly easy to obtain! You can find more on how to get the self certification & what you need for it right here.

Essentially it was created to stop cross contamination of species from different bodies of water to come into the park. So it was put in for good reason! And is a big way to advocate for other Leave No Traceprinciples!

Since we don’t actually own our own canoe, we actually rented one in Calgary where we live, and drove it out to the mountains! We were able to get a rental from the University of Calgary where we could take the canoe one day, and return it the next day. You can find out about their rentalshere.

After getting our rental, and our cerification to use it, we were set. And set out to have this amazing summer adventure. We actually wouldn’t even have done this if I didn’t have a couple who were set on canoeing on Moraine Lake for their engagement session. And y’know what? We made it happen! You can read about their adventurehere!

And if you ever dream of having an adventure like this, and wanting amazing memories to look back on from it- I can help! As an adventure wedding & elopement photographer, I live for this kinda stuff. And love being able to craft unique and amazing experience for others as they embark on their own epic adventure story. If you want to learn more, or start planning and adventure, inquire with mehere!

And if you want to check out another adventure we had- we explored the island of Oahu in Hawaii right before the pandemic hit! Check out our custom built adventure here!