Lake Agnes, Banff National Park

Lake Agnes is a gem above Lake Louise and holds the highest tea house in Canada! The hike was actually a bit harder than we expected at 2.2 miles and 1,300 feet of elevation gain, but it was definitely worth the trip. We ended up getting up there just as the tea house was closing but the people were so nice and still served us cookies and tea. It’s one of the most unique experiences I have had at high elevation and I recommend it just for that alone! The lake itself is beautiful and the mountains surrounding it are majestic as well. The views of Lake Louise down below on the journey up are awesome as well. If you are going to Lake Louise make sure to add this to your list!

Hiking level of difficulty is medium/moderate. You will pass by Mirror Lake before reaching Lake Agnes. There’s a Tea House beside it & a waterfall. It feels rewarding to have a place to sit down & rest and have a snack & drink after about an hour of hiking. I found it very surprising to have a cell phone signal. You have to hike a little bit up to go to washrooms. The path going up past the washrooms will lead you to Little Beehive. Hike for another 30 minutes & you’ll reach the top with even more spectacular views! If you walk toward northwest along the path on right side of lake it will lead you to either the Big Beehive that has a great view of Lake Louise below or to the Plain of 6 Glaciers.

If you walk 3.5 km up the Lake Agnes trail you reach Lake Agnes and Tea House. The lake is beautiful surrounded from 3 sides by mountains. The scenery is very pleasing to the eye. There is a trail take you from next of Tee House to the other side of the lake where you can climb another trail to the top of a mountain from which you get magnificent view of Lake Louise. The trail is very steep, not easy to climb.

This beauty seems to be over shadowed by Louise and Moraine, but on its own in any other part of the world it would a destination for sure. I can best describe it as Nature's Infinity Lake. At the end of the Lake is a really beautiful cascading waterfall to the valley below. The walk around the lake is worth the view back even if you don't plan to summit Big Beehive.

Moderate hike from Lake Louise with the added option of a loop back down along the shore of LL. Beautiful scenery.