Quote:
Originally Posted by Wormius
I was hoping for some spontaneous, let’s go hike to the tea house like we used to kind of idea. So where is the closest place to park now? Can you just park in town and bike to the lake or is it that big lot along hwy 1?
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Lake Louise still has that big lot. It's just paid parking now and still fills up ($8 a vehicle?). The other locations are still the same IIRC. I once paid to park at the Fairmont Lake Louise ($30?). Guests were from out of town that the extra cost so that they didn't miss out was worth it IMO. I thought I recall seeing signs that Fairmont Lake Louise parking changed so that only guests at the hotel could park, but I don't see such verbiage on their website.
I've never tried too hard if it seemed like parking would be a challenge. I just go elsewhere and try again later in the day. Lots of cool and beautiful areas nearby, including Peyto Lake, Emerald Lake and Takakkaw falls not too far away. Rainy days are also worth investigating. Most people clear out on days with light/moderate rain, but if you can get lucky and get a misty view of the lake just when the clouds break... that is special in its own way as well.
With guests, I've never parked in town or the overflow lot half way up. It's just all or nothing/we'll probably get in during golden hour for sure. If late morning/early afternoon I'd say it might be more challenging to get parking, but also depends how lucky you are. If you're up for parking further down/in town and biking/hiking up, I think your odds of a spontaneous attempt for a hike increase and IIRC, it's reported that "hike" is just adding 20-45 minutes of walking along the road. I know some people will book the Lake Louise campground and then consider it a slightly longer hike. Not sure of the shuttle as I've not used it. The shuttle can fill up fast or require booking several days ahead. I ran into the shuttles being fully booked a few times on the day of in other areas of the park, so never bothered trying the shuttles again.
If you go spontaneously around 6-8PM, many people are starting to clear out for dinner/return to Calgary. Should still be enough time/daylight to do a 2 ish hour spontaneous hike and the sun shouldn't be as hot as during the afternoon.
One comment I often make at Lake Louise in the summer, "You should see it in the winter when they build the ice castle on the lake for you to skate around..." Some people think I'm lying until they look up pictures of it.