Last updated on April 3rd, 2023 at 10:26 pm
The Cirque Lake hike in Banff National Park is what I like to think of as a bit of a gem! I was completely surprised at just how beautiful the destination was and how little attention this hike seems to get. Don’t get me wrong, we didn’t have the trail to ourselves by any means but there was only one other group when we got to the lake! No the weather wasn’t amazing, but since when did that stop people in August? We chose to do this trail because we were staying at the Waterfowl Lakes Campground which happens to be the location of the trailhead so it was an easy choice for us.
The Cirque Lake hike ends at a beautiful blue lake with a towering mountain in the background. A glacier rolls over the top of the mountain and falls towards the lake, hence the bright blue color of the lake. This place is a real peaceful gem and a perfect lesser known hike along the Icefields Parkway in Banff National Park.
The Hike To Cirque Lake
Distance: 4.2km one way
Elevation gain: 150m
The Cirque Lake hike starts by crossing the river on the far side of the campground. Once across the bridge the trail starts to climb as it winds through the forest. It’s an easy to follow trail but at some points is a little steep! Eventually it flattens out and shortly after there is a junction. It’s clearly signed with an official Parks Canada sign as well as a more rustic pair of wooden arrows.
The right trail heads to Chephren Lake. It’s a slightly shorter trail than the Cirque Lake hike but I think Cirque Lake is slightly more scenic than Chephren Lake. The trail for the Cirque Lake Hike is the trail which goes left at the junction and to start with it slowly heads downwards, making for easy and speedy kilometres. Eventually the sound of water in the background appears and the trail starts to climb allowing views of the runoff river coming down from Cirque Lake. Slowly the views start to open up and show views of the mountains behind the lake through the trees.
I can’t pretend this is the most beautiful hike I’ve ever done and towards the end we started to get itchy feet to reach our destination. As the trail reaches the lake it somewhat disappears, a faint trail through the rocky shore can be seen and we followed this for a short distance. Footing was hard at times, hopping rock to rock to find a nice spot to sit and take in the views.
It was windy at the lake when we were there, I’d take an extra layer just in case! Plus the bugs were awful! I mean awful! We wore sunglasses to keep them out of our eyes. But it was still really beautiful even on an overcast day.
How To Get To The Cirque Lake Hike
The Cirque Lake hike starts from the Waterfowl Lakes Campground. Along Highway 93N, approximately 40 minutes from Lake Louise, Waterfowl Lakes is clearly signed from the highway on the left hand side, if you are heading north towards Jasper.
Once off the highway, follow the signs for hiking rather than turning into the campground. At the end there is a parking lot and from there the trail starts. It runs along the edge of the campground along beside the river until it reaches the bridge and the trailhead sign for Cirque and Chephren Lakes.
