Lake Minnewanka is a long and narrow lake located North of Banff village. The lake does not have the emerald blue water and is less well known. The water at the lake is very calm and reflects the surrounding mountains like mirrors. The lake is only about 30 minutes away from Banff village and very easily accessible.
We decided to visit Lake Minnewanka for the day and enjoy a quiet day. We got the Lake Minnewanka around 9AM and there was essentially no one there. We walked around and dipped our hand into the water, the water temperature was very cold.
We then walked along the hiking trail along the lake shore, and think that maybe we will hike to the top of the view point. After hiking along the trail for an hour, we got to a bridge crossing the river. We wanted to go further and saw a notice on the bridge indicating to watch out for bears. The notice suggests to have at least 4 people in a group to hike together in case there is bear around the area. It also suggests to carry bear spread if possible. We did not have bear spread with us and were the only one hiking on the trail, so we did not want to risk it. We just turned back a walked back to the lake.
When we got back to the lake, we started to see more people coming. Many people brought their lovely dogs over to the lake. The dogs were happily swimming in the lake and enjoying the nature.
There are also cruise tour on the lake. We did not take the lake cruise however. We did not see any boat rental facility along the lake either.
In general, Lake Minnewanka is not as popular as Lake Louise and Moraine Lake, but it still an amazing place to visit. We loved how calm and clear the water is. The fact that there isn't any crowd here just make us very happy to enjoy the place just for ourselves. If you have additional time during your vacation stay, it is definitely a good place to visit!
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