Peyto Lake Hike

Trailhead: Park at the Peyto Lake parking lot located on the west side of the Icefields Parkway approximately 42kms north of Lake Louise. Banff National Park.

Description: Peyto Lake lookout is more of a walk than a hike. For those who want to explore further you can hike to a higher viewpoint. You can also hike down to the lake itself and then towards the Peyto Glacier.

From the Peyto Lake lookout continue on a few meters and locate the trail leading downwards to the lake or keep going until you see another trail on your right that leads to an old fire road. The fire road leads to nearby old Bow Lake lookout. Follow the dirt road a short distance until Peyto Lake comes into view.

At this point you can scramble up the mountain behind you for better views of the lake. This is where all the calendar pictures are taken from. Views of Peyto Lake get better the higher up you go. To my surprise there was no one here other than myself and hundreds of tourists were trying to catch a turn at the view point located way below.

Interesting to note that a National Parks statistic shows 93% of all tourist do not venture further then 1kms from their cars. Peyto Lake was name after Bill Peyto who was a historical trapper and trail guide in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Peyto Lake gets it’s beautiful turquoise green color from glacial silt created by the Peyto Glacier and the Wapta Icefields. This Is Bear Country.

Bow Valley Parkway Map PDF