"Valley of the Ten Peaks" Moraine Lake/ Valley of Ten Peaks Tip by richiecdisc

Hiking in the Lake Moraine area is a bit more tricky than near Lake Louise due to a higher grizzly bear presence. This is seasonal depending generally on berries being around but the park reserves the right to close the area or install a group hiking mandate at any time. This basically means you can only hike in the area in groups of four or more since bears are less likely to bother large groups. The area around the lake is always open but hikes into the Larch, Consolation, and Paradise Valleys just above it can be thus restricted.

On our 2008 trip, there was a group hiking mandate in effect and to be honest, we did not have great weather so doing one of the hikes was not a priority. If the park was not set up in a pay-per-day format, we might have waited the weather out as we had done in countless US National Parks, but it did not seem worth the money to do so, especially with the summer rapidly disappearing before our eyes.

I did do the hike to Wenkchemna Pass on my first trip to the park in 1994. That year, I arrived in the park the day after a huge snow storm had hit the park. It was in incredibly clear day and the fresh dusting of snow on the Valley of the Ten Peaks was stunning. This hike is 9.7 kilometers one-way and gains 720 meters in elevation. You pass Eiffel Lake about half-way along the trail. I was knee deep in snow at some points!

Directions: Moraine Lake trail head.