Lake Agnes Big Beehive (Lake Louise): Trail Report

Lake Agnes Big Beehive (Lake Louise): Trail Report

Hiking to the Lake Agnes Tea House is considered an iconic staple when it comes to Lake Louise and Banff National Park. So despite the possibility of crowds (spoiler: it wasn’t bad) and the challenge with parking (it was that bad, ha ha) go for it! And no surprise…it was completely worth it.

Suggested Stops

Pre-hike we stopped at Trailhead Coffee to fuel up with a latte and their veggie breakfast bagel (try with the sweet chilli sauce!). Definitely a winner. So so happy. After an epic day of hiking it was straight to the Hostel to eat at Bill Peyto’s Cafe. The menu is full of ‘feels like home’ items of good proportion and made with fresh ingredients. Exactly what was needed! We eat, felt great, and then passed out at 7pm.

Important Insights

Lake Agnes - important to note that the tea house is cash only.

Land Acknowledgement

These are the lands of the Niitsítpiis-stahkoii ᖹᐟᒧᐧᐨᑯᐧ ᓴᐦᖾᐟ (Blackfoot / Niitsítapi ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ), Ktunaxa ɁamakɁis, Stoney, Tsuu T'ina, and Michif Piyii (Métis) people.⁠ It is important as avid hikers and stewards of the land, to acknowledge and understand the full story our surroundings along with the people that care for her, both past and present. As sourced from native-land.ca, if there are corrections please send to victoria@girlgonegood.com.

Land Management

Lake Agnes + Big Beehive trail in Banff National Park is managed by Parks Canada.

GPS Coordinates

51.41555346041025, -116.21362570197033

Street Address

111 Lake Louise Dr, Lake Louise, AB T0L 1E0

Directions

a) If you’re not staying in Lake Louise Village and only making it in the afternoon or would like to also see Lake Moraine then it is best to park at the designated overflow parking outside and take the shuttle bus in to Lake Louise and Lake Moraine. There are early bird hiker’s shuttle schedule starting at 6am ish. Check online for updated information.

b) If you’re not staying in Lake Louise Village and coming early then driving in is an option as long as you hit the Lake Louise parking early. Like really early. Maybe around 6am, and no later than 7am.

c) If you’re staying in Lake Louise Village and wanted to go hiking from Lake Louise (Lake Agnes, Little Beehive, Big Beehive, Devil’s Thumb, etc) then catch the Roam Transit bus for 2$ cash from the little bus station near the corner of Village Rd and Lake Louise Dr (on the same side as Samson Mall). Check online or at the Parks Info Centre (co located in the Samson Mall parking lot) for more info.

d) If you’re staying in Lake Louise Village and wanted to go hiking from Lake Moraine…good luck. Check with staff for your best options…we risked it and woke up ridiculously early to drive up to Lake Moraine by 5am to snag a spot and go hiking. Yet when we came down by 10 am there were spots. It’s not consistent.

Parking

Large parking lot at trailhead.

Cell Reception

Yes

Washrooms

Washrooms available at the parking lot.

Accessibility

No

Trail Details

Entrance Fee

Hours of Operation

June 4 until Canadian Thanksgiving: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm (Lake Agnes)

Trail Map

Available from the Parks Canada.

Trailhead

Located at Lake Louise.

Number of Trails

2

Total Distance (km)

15

Elevation Gain (m)

647

Cell Reception

Yes

Features

Activities

Hiking

Dogs

Permitted on-leash

Trail Description

Elevation gain is 400m (Lake Agnes) and 647m (Big Beehive). As imagined, this is an incredible well maintained and easy to follow trail. The route up to first Mirror Lake then Lake Agnes is a wide dirt path of switchbacks with gentle or moderate incline. Once you hit Mirror Lake there is a split in the path and you can choose to reach the tea house (which you can see from Mirror Lake) by going either direction. We chose to follow the path right which was a steep but relatively short ascent to the tea house. Again it is a wider dirt path that ends with two wooden staircases. Lake Agnes is a quieter scene and gorgeous alpine backdrop. The way to Big Beehive is to take the trail around Lake Agnes counter clockwise and follow the moderately steep switchbacks up. A little forewarning that some parts of the switchbacks are narrow and if you’re not fond of heights or drops this might make you uneasy. It wasn’t our favourite thing but it was certainly manageable and the lookout more than made it worth it. t the end of the switchbacks you follow the mostly flat trail to the left towards Lake Louise. It is worth it in spades. There are several run off unofficial trails to the right that offer up great views of the lake below. Our favourite spot however was to follow the trail until you reach the gazebo, and then walk slightly past it for a full view of the mountains, village, and lake. From the junction point, there is the option to go up to Devil’s thumb for an utterly amazing view (from what we hear). We didn’t take this option, having enough of scree and scrambles from hiking East End of Rundle the day prior, ha ha. Instead we continued on the trail counter clockwise through a lush forested area that really added to the scenery of this hike! Not to mention being about to see the deep aqua of Lake Louise at a few points. This direction brings you back to Mirror Lake and from there it’s a straight forward descent back to Lake Louise.

Other Hiking Trails