BANFF NATIONAL PARK - Canadian Rockies: Including Banff and Jasper National Parks - page 119

the railway station and follows the route of a narrow-gauge railway that once transported
guests from the CPR line to Chateau Lake Louise.
Bow River Loop
• Length: 7 kilometers/4.3 miles (1.5-2 hours) round-trip
• Elevation gain: minimal
• Rating: easy
• Trailheads: various points throughout Lake Louise village, including behind Samson
Mall
This loop follows both banks of the Bow River southeast from the railway station. Used by
joggers and cyclists to access various points in the village, the trail also links the railway
station to the Lake Louise Alpine Centre, Post Hotel, Samson Mall, both campgrounds,
and the Louise Creek and Tramline Trails to Lake Louise. Interpretive signs along its
length provide information on the Bow River ecosystem.
Louise Lakeshore
• Length: 2 kilometers/1.2 miles (30 minutes) one-way
• Elevation gain: none
• Rating: easy
• Trailhead: Lake Louise, 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from TransCanada Highway
Probably the busiest trail in all the Canadian Rockies, this one follows the north shore
of Lake Louise from in front of the château to the west end of the lake. Here numerous
braided glacial streams empty their silt-filled waters into Lake Louise. Along the trail's
length are benches for sitting and pondering what English mountaineer James Outram once
described as “a gem of composition and of coloring... perhaps unrivalled anywhere.”
Plain of the Six Glaciers
• Length: 5.3 kilometers/3.3 miles (90 minutes) one-way
• Elevation gain: 370 meters/1,215 feet
• Rating: easy/moderate
• Trailhead: Lake Louise
Hikers along this trail are rewarded not only with panoramic views of the glaciated peaks
of the main range, but also with a rustic trail'send teahouse serving homemade goodies
baked on a wooden stove. For the first two kilometers (1.2 miles), the trail follows the