Moraine Lake is one of the most famous mountain lakes in the world and of course is a goal of millions of tourist coming to the Canadian Rockies. Every day, hundreds of people are waiting for a spectacular sunrise. And more and more people are coming to see this unforgettable landscape during the day. It seems like there will be always people, but not always! You can have the lake just for yourself and for free!
And how is that possible?
The key is good timing and good bike. Yes, a bike! The trick is that you have to unfortunately wait until end of the season. The road to the Moraine lake is closed for the winter and this closure usually starts right after Thanksgiving. When the road is closed, no buses can go up there, but you can still hike, or better bike by yourself before the snow will make it impossible.
This gap is the best time for visiting Moraine Lake, because almost nobody will go there for sunrise and most likely you can be there just by yourself especially if you don’t choose the weekend. And the lake still won’t be frozen.
Way up on regular bike can take 1-1.5 hours, depend on you skills and condition. With an e-bike you can be way faster and be there in less than one hour. Just be careful, even if the road is closed, Parks Canada can still drive there, so expect some traffic anyway.
And the way down on the bikes was just amazing. We met a few groups of people who decided to hike up, but remember that Moarine road has 12km from the intersection and additional 2km if you wanna start in Lake Louise village.
