Things to do at Peyto Lake

Peyto Lake sits below Bow Summit, at 2,088 metres the highest point on the Icefields Parkway, 40 km north of Lake Louise village. The viewpoint car park is a short uphill walk of around 10 to 15 minutes on a paved path, and it fills fast on summer afternoons, so arrive before 9am or after 5pm if you want space at the rail.

Do not expect the postcard turquoise before late June: the lake stays frozen or partly frozen into early summer, and the wolf-head shape only turns that intense blue once glacial meltwater loads it with rock flour, usually from late June or July onward. A photo taken in May will show grey ice, not colour.

This is a separate lake from Bow Lake, passed a few minutes earlier on the same road, which has its own page and its own car park.