Moraine Lake

“Hey, do you want to head into the mountains around 1am to try to see Moraine Lake?” 

“1am? Not really….”  

And yet a week later, there we were.  

It feels impossible to see this iconic lake, but every year people try. Moraine Lake is nestled in the Canadian Rockies, very close to Lake Louise. Though it is much smaller, it is considered by most to be the more beautiful of the two lakes (and that’s saying something, because we all know how gorgeous Lake Louise is). The parking lot – which is quite small – fills up between 3am and 4am every morning. After it’s full, they close off the road into the lake and only let cars in when others have left. It is really tricky to get in. I’ve never seen the turn off to Moraine Lake open.  

Another reason why Moraine Lake is difficult to see is that it’s only open in the Spring and Summer. This is due to the dangers of avalanches and rock fall.

There’s a lodge out at the lake as well, but apparently you have to give up your first born to get a reservation. There are some beautiful hikes out there, but one of the nicest things about the lake is that in order to get the iconic view, it’s very short hike in. I don’t even think you can consider it a hike. 

The best friend and I decided to meet up at 10pm to head into the mountains together. The plan was to get burgers at a place in Banff and hang out at the restaurant until about 2am before heading to Moraine. We arrived in Banff just after 11pm and headed straight to Surprise Corner to get a few night pictures of the beautiful Banff Springs Hotel. This was a mistake, because we found out (too late) that all of the kitchens in Banff close at 11pm…. I’m sure this is because of Covid and the fact that every place is short staffed right now. But it was a little frustrating to discover!  

Turns out there was a little pizza place called Aardvark Pizza that was open until 3:30am. There was no place to sit inside, but they had gluten free options (which we both needed), so we ordered and waited outside. We were eating their delicious pizza just after midnight. Banff is actually still pretty busy at midnight, even though there are only 2 pubs open and Aardvark is the only place serving food! (Highly recommend, by the way). We sat outside, enjoying the live music drifting out of a local pub and tried to decide our next move. 

You’re not allowed to sleep in your car anywhere in Banff National Park. And according to multiple websites that we checked, sleeping in your car at Moraine Lake is also illegal and can result in fines (though, as we discovered, a LOT of people do it). We decided to drive halfway to the turn off and sleep on the side of the road at a rest stop. “Sleep”, I should say. We set a timer for an hour and attempted to sleep between 1:30am and 2:30am. Neither of us actually believe that we slept, but that hour went by quickly. We tossed and turned in the car, but at least we rested.  

At 2:30am we headed for Moraine Lake. It’s on the same road into Lake Louise and as we approached the turn off, we saw a big flashing sigh that said that the parking lot into Moraine was already full. At 3am. From our side of the road, we couldn’t turn in anyways. So, we anxiously headed up the road to Lake Louise, pulled a U-turn and tried to get in from the other side of the road. We pressed our luck and turned down the 14km, winding road.  

To our horror, when we arrived in the parking lot, we saw that it was, indeed, full. There were other cars that were trying to park too. I decided to circle the parking lot a few times to see if anything opened up and to come up with a possible plan. The second time I circled, we saw a group of people heading to their car. I rolled down my window and anxiously asked them if they were leaving. They said that they were. My bestie hopped out of the car and followed them to their car to hold the spot while I circled around again.  

Thankful, we nestled in for about 40 minutes before heading out to find the ‘Rock Pile’ to get the picturesque views of Moraine Lake. It’s not really a hike, but it is definitely up a lot of stairs that have been etched into the rocks. That said, we were at the viewpoints within 10 minutes.  

We set up and snuggled in to watch the sun rise above this incredible lake. The lookout was full. We were lucky to get a spot along the ledge. As the sun started to rise, the colours of the lake came to life. Apparently the colours change depending on the weather. It’s quite something to see. Some parts were bright blue while others were darker or lighter. 

Looking up to the left, you could see the glaciers that feed the lake. The iconic mountain points along the back of the shore. If you walked to the other side of the ‘Rock Pile’, you ended up looking out over the Bow Valley which was also something beautiful to see.  

After a while, we made our way down to the lake itself and took a few pictures there. The clear water was reflecting the mountains in such a perfect way. There were also bunch of logs jamming up a stream – apparently these come from the ample amount of avalanches that happen every year.  

Eventually, we said goodbye to Moraine Lake and headed back to Banff for breakfast at Tooloulou’s (which has a fantastic gluten free menu), then picked up a coffee from Starbucks and hit the road.  

A few minutes outside of the mountains, my head started to dip. We found another rest spot, set a timer for just 10 minutes and caught a quick few moments of sleep before setting out on the road again.  

I dropped my bestie off at her car and drove the hour back to my parents’ house. I rolled in right around noon and proceeded to sleep for the next 5 hours.  

There are no regrets. I would absolutely do this again – and I encourage you to do it too if you’re ever out in the area (though show up earlier and risk the fines). Next time, I want to explore some of the hiking trails. It’s an incredible area and I cannot wait to head out there again – probably next summer!  

If you’ve ever made your way out to Moraine Lake or have stories about other difficult areas to get to around the world, I’d love to hear about your adventures! Please comment below!