Can you drive to Moraine Lake?

No. The road is permanently closed to personal vehicles. Access is by Parks Canada shuttle, Roam public transit, or a commercial tour, all of which should be booked ahead.

How many days do you need in Banff?

Four is right: two for the Lake Louise and Moraine area, one for the Banff townsite and its gondola and hot springs, and one for the Icefields Parkway.

When are Banff lakes ice free?

Lake Louise typically thaws in late May or June and Moraine Lake, which is higher, usually opens in June. Before that they are frozen and white rather than turquoise.

Is Banff or Jasper better?

Banff has the famous lakes, more services and more people. Jasper is bigger, wilder, quieter and better for wildlife. The Icefields Parkway links them, so most trips do both.

National parks

Banff National Park: lakes, shuttles and the crowd problem

Where: Alberta Rockies, 90 minutes from Calgary
Best months: Late June to September, ice-free lakes from June
Time needed: Four days
Nearest airports: Calgary

A turquoise lake ringed by mountains in Banff National Park — The colour is rock flour suspended in glacial meltwater, not a filter. Photo: Gorgo / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

Banff is Canada's first national park and its busiest, and the specific problem it has is that four million visitors want to photograph the same two lakes. Parks Canada's answer, which works, is to take cars out of the equation. Plan around the shuttles and Banff is wonderful. Ignore them and you will spend your holiday in a parking queue.

Moraine Lake and Lake Louise

Moraine Lake road is closed to personal vehicles. This is permanent, not seasonal congestion management. Access is by Parks Canada shuttle, the regional Roam transit, or a commercial operator, and every one of them books out. Lake Louise has parking but it fills before dawn in summer and carries a fee, so the park-and-ride shuttle from the Lake Louise overflow lot is usually the saner choice.

Book shuttles on the Parks Canada reservation service as soon as your dates are firm. A batch is released well ahead and a smaller batch two days out.

Banff National Park Open the full map

The Icefields Parkway

The 230 kilometre road from Lake Louise to Jasper is one of the great drives anywhere. Allow a full day, not the three hours the map suggests. Stops worth making include Bow Lake, Peyto Lake, the Columbia Icefield and Athabasca Falls. There is no fuel for long stretches, so fill up in Lake Louise before you start.

Beyond the two famous lakes

Johnston Canyon: catwalks bolted into a limestone gorge past two waterfalls. Very busy by ten in the morning, magical at seven.
Lake Minnewanka: the biggest lake in the park, with a boat cruise and easy shoreline walking, and far fewer people.
Sunshine Meadows: alpine wildflower meadows on the continental divide, reached by gondola in summer.
Banff Gondola to Sulphur Mountain: a boardwalk ridge walk and the full valley panorama.
Plain of Six Glaciers: the hike from Lake Louise that most visitors do not do, ending at a teahouse.
Banff Upper Hot Springs: exactly the right thing after any of the above.

Book it and check it

Common questions

Can you drive to Moraine Lake?: No. The road is permanently closed to personal vehicles. Access is by Parks Canada shuttle, Roam public transit, or a commercial tour, all of which should be booked ahead.
How many days do you need in Banff?: Four is right: two for the Lake Louise and Moraine area, one for the Banff townsite and its gondola and hot springs, and one for the Icefields Parkway.
When are Banff lakes ice free?: Lake Louise typically thaws in late May or June and Moraine Lake, which is higher, usually opens in June. Before that they are frozen and white rather than turquoise.
Is Banff or Jasper better?: Banff has the famous lakes, more services and more people. Jasper is bigger, wilder, quieter and better for wildlife. The Icefields Parkway links them, so most trips do both.

Tip

Banff townsite paid parking and the free Roam buses make a car close to unnecessary once you are based there. Park it and use the network.