Peyto
Lake is located in Banff National
Park near Bow Summit approximately
38Km
north of Lake Louise on the
Icefields Parkway. The Peyto Lake
lookout is more of a walk then a
hike but for those who want to
explore further and escape the
crowds you can hike past the tourist
lookout and up the 1st visible Peak
that can be seen on your left to the
south. You can also hike down to the
lake and then towards the Peyto
Glacier. Park at the Peyto Lake view
point parking lot then walk up the
paved path to the lookout. Expect to
see large crowds of people here
during the summer months. From the
lookout follow the short loop trail
to your left. Near the start of the
loop trail you'll see a trail on
your right that leads down to Peyto
Lake. If you want to see better
views of Peyto Lake stay on the loop
trail until you see another trail
leading of to an old fire road. This
fire road leads to nearby
Bow Lake
Lookout. Follow the 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 peak
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
then 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
states 93% of all tourist do not
venture further then
1km
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 Icefield.
Bow Falls Hike,
Helen Lake,
Cirque Peak,
Bow Lake Lookout Hike,
Chephren
Cirque Lake Hikes,
Mount Hector
Alpine Climb are all
located near here.
You are in
bear country.
