Lake Louise is probably one of the most iconic destinations in Canada. Although it is extremely popular and therefore constantly full of people, it is worth spending a day there to see what the fuss is about. There are obviously other places in the Rockies that have less crowds and that have views that aren’t obstructed by an eyesore like the Fairmont hotel. Seeing the hotel behind the lake really ruined the natural beauty of the landscape, but I will say seeing the colour of the lake from a height is truly breathtaking. So although there are plenty of other lakes to see in the Rockies, Lake Louise has earned its place as one of the top spots.
Because of its popularity, you really should plan your trip in advance and get there as early as possible. Parks Canada runs a shuttle bus from 6:30 AM to 7:30 PM which is worth thinking of if you’re not willing to get up early, because the parking lot gets full fast. We probably got there around 5:00 AM and there were plenty of other cars there at that time, even though it was pitch dark! We wanted to get there so we could hike the Beehive trail and summit at sunrise. Although there were lots of other cars, we didn’t meet many people at all hiking at this time. I think it’s more popular to do the Lake Agnes/Big Beehive hike first as the Teahouse is located at Lake Agnes. And let’s face it, there’s nothing better than treats after a climb!
One of the best things about Lake Louise is there are lots of trails you can do, meaning you can make your time there as short or as long as you want. The popular Beehive trail consists of the Little Beehive, Big Beehive and Lake Agnes. It is easy to do all of these in one go as they are close in proximity and you can turn your hike into a loop rather than trekking out and back. We decided to tackle all of these as well as the Plain of Six Glaciers to round out a full day of hiking!
Beehive Trail Description
Trail access is on the right hand side of the lake, there are signs that indicate the start of the trail to Lake Agnes that leads up into the forest. There are 2 different trails you can take, apparently the one to Lake Agnes/Mirror Lake is a more gradual incline, but I’m pretty sure we took the other trail (it was dark and we didn’t realise there was more than one trail!) The trails do link up so you can decide which Beehive you want to go to on your way to the top. – I recommend going to the Little Beehive first because the majority of people choose Lake Agnes. We had the Little Beehive lookout to ourselves and when we moved onto Lake Agnes, it was very busy.
The Little Beehive, from Lake Louise is approximately 9.5km (roundtrip) with an elevation gain of 533m. There is a constant uphill pull and several switchbacks through the forest, but as I mentioned we did this in the dark so the lack of views wasn’t a problem! As we cleared out of the trees and caught the first glimpse of the lake, it gave us a burst of energy to hurry to the top to get an even better view as the sun came up.
Although it was cloudy, it was still beautiful. You can’t see the Fairmont as well as you can from the Big Beehive so that was another bonus. I couldn’t believe we were the only people there, but even if there were others, there is a lot of different spots to sit and take it all in. We surprisingly had good enough phone signal from here that we were able to video call home to make our families super jealous of where we were. From here, we carried on to Lake Agnes.
Starting from Lake Louise, the Lake Agnes Teahouse is 3.8km and the Big Beehive is 5.2km from that same starting point. The trail to the Big Beehive follows the shoreline of Lake Agnes so it is a really beautiful addition not only for the view you will get of Lake Louise, but the short trail itself has amazing scenery for the whole climb. We decided to get some snacks at the teahouse, because when else are you going to have the option for a fresh brew and cake on top of a mountain? We got a seat inside the teahouse pretty quickly as most people ordered takeout. It’s a really unique feature of this trail, there is no electricity so everything is made by hand and all supplies are carried up by the workers who stay up there for a few days at a time. If you continue to the Plain of Six Glaciers, there is a second teahouse that is just as good. Bring cash, they don’t accept card since they don’t have signal or electricity!
Since it was still so early in the morning, we continued following the Plain of Six Glaciers trail. The trail to the teahouse is fine, there are some ledges that overlook steep drops but it is fairly wide. The teahouse is 5.5km from Lake Louise and I thought it was nicer (and less busy) than the Lake Agnes teahouse.
To get to the glaciers, it isn’t much further to travel from here, perhaps a kilometre. The trail is not maintained from this point, so there are a lot of loose rocks and it is pretty slippery. You can climb up to a rock that has a great view of the glaciers, which we successfully did with some difficulty, even more so when it came to coming back down. A lot of people didn’t bother, or attempted it and decided against it as you’re scaling scree. The glaciers can be appreciated at any distance!
Our journey back to the shoreline was easy and fast as it was all downhill from here. In total, we did about 20km with 1000m elevation over the space of about 9 hours, having stopped at both teahouses for some treats! It was a really unique hiking experience.
Just Another Mountain 
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