Time: 6 - 7 hours, although an overnight stay is always recommended! Add 2 - 3 hours if heading up to Numa Pass
Distance: 20 km out and back to the lake, add 5.4 km up to Numa Pass.
Elevation Gain: 730 metres to the lake add 300 metres to Numa Pass.
Access: Coming from Banff take Highway 1 heading west until you come to exit 50. Take highway 93 heading south for approximately 32kms until you come across the Floe Lake Trail head car park on the right hand side.
Floe Lake has to be one of the most stunning lakes in all of Canada. The trail is littered with wild flowers in spring and engulfed in golden larch trees late in the hiking season, there really isn’t a bad time of year to visit.
Nearby wild fires make for an atmospheric sunrise as smoke roles in.
Floe lake is surrounded by a huge peak and head wall of the same name, the towering mountains are so high you’ll be straining your neck to take it all in!
As for the first section of the hike the trail is relatively easy to follow with no real forks or direction changes. One thing to note however is that the whole area was victim to a large wild fire in 2003. This means the trees are bare and respite from the sun is almost nonexistent. If you’re hiking this trail on a hot summers day you won’t really get a break from the sun until you get to the steep incline about 9 km in.
However the trail does cross multiple rivers offering a great opportunity to cool down or top up on water, if it’s hot I would highly recommend taking advantage of these stops.
As mentioned before the elevation gain doesn’t really start until around 9kms in to the trail. In the last km you’ll take on about 400km of elevation gain as you make the final ascent to the lake. This is when the hike gets tough but for the first time there is some shade on offer.
If you are able to I highly recommend camping at the lake, sunrise here is just other worldly and I don’t think I’ve ever sat anywhere more impressive as we enjoyed our breakfast. The number of pitches is limited and these book out super quickly, if you aren’t able to get a campsite the hike in and out is certainly short enough to achieve in a day. You can make reservations on the Parks Canada website.
Having coffee at Floe Lake
If you have the energy and can drag yourself away from the incredible vistas of the lake side I highly recommend taking on the 5.4km return trip to Numa Pass. Up to the pass adds 300 metres of elevation gain but the gain is relatively gradual. During the fall you’ll be walking through forests of bright yellow larches and in spring you’ll be met by fields of wild flowers as you summit the pass. The pass itself is clear of trees and offers incredible views over the lake and mountains below.
Views from Numa Pass during peak wild flower season.