Big Beehive trail is located beside Lake Louise within Banff National Park. It is one of the best hike in the park. The trail is about 5KM long with moderate elevation gain. The trail also passes by many lakes and a Tea House at mid point. Many visitors come to visit Lake Louise but most people miss this hike. Since we love hiking, this is a trail that we cannot miss.
The trail starts on the East end of the Lake Louise. When we got to Lake Louise, we walked towards North along Lake Louise lakeshore and the trail starts. The hiking trail is very wide and very well maintained, so it is very easy to hike on. There are also horse riders along the trail and this is because the horses are used to carry supplies to the tea house. Thus when hiking on the trail, watch for horse poops on the ground and do not step on it.
After about 2KM, we reached the tea house. This indicates it is time for taking a break. The tea house simply serves ordinary tea with tea bag in a small styrofoam cup. A cup of team cost around $6 Canadian dollars, which is very expensive. Many people do line up there for a long time just to get a cup of tea.
Note that the tea house is not the end of the Big Beehive trail. The Big Beehive trail continues along the left side of the lake in front of the tea house. The trail has become noticeably narrower at this point and horses cannot walk on the trail anymore. The trail took us to the back of the lake and zig zag up the hill, and this is where the elevation begins.
After about 30 minutes, we got to the top of the mountain. The trail is a bit more difficult to follow, but we can still follow it. There is a small hut at the end of the trail for people to stay in in case there is rain or stormy weather. From the top, we had a perfect view of Lake Louise from the top. It was so amazing. We could also see Fairmont Chateau at the far end and the entire pine forest.
In general, this is one of the best hike within Banff National Park. We really enjoyed the view at the top of the mountain looking down at Lake Louise. There are other trails that branches off from Big Beehive trail, which will be something that we want to try when we visit Banff National Park next time.
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