The small village of Lake Louise is located in the picturesque valley of the Bow River in the heart of the pristine and spectacular Banff National Park, Canada’s oldest national park which today forms part of the listed U.N.E.S.C.O. Rocky Mountain World Heritage site. The village, which is home to an estimated 1,100 residents, is located on the Trans-Canada Highway approximately 60 kilometres west of Banff in the Province of Alberta, and consists of two separate residential communities. The area adjacent to the Trans-Canada Highway is generally known as the ‘Village’ and provides tourists with a Banff National Park visitors centre, a handful of convenience shops, accommodation and services for the Lake Louise Mountain Resort which lies to the north-west just across the Pipestone River. The second, higher area of Lake Louise, lies to the south-west and is centred around the Fairmont Chateau which overlooks the stunning Lake Louise. The township of Lake Louise is known as the ‘Hiking and skiing capital of Canada’ and is surrounded by huge areas of spectacular scenery which provides visitors with unsurpassed recreational, sightseeing and wildlife viewing opportunities. The Lake Louise gondola, which is open all year, offers the perfect viewing platform from which to enjoy the best that the area offers.
Known for its network of hiking and walking trails, the region abounds with the spectacular Rocky Mountain scenery which contains numerous glaciers, rushing rivers, stunning alpine lakes and waterfalls. Lake Louise enjoys around 3.3 metres of snow each year and through the Lake Louise Mountain Resort the region provides skiers with the best powder snow in the country. The ski area covers 2,637 hectares on the slopes of the nearby Mount Whitehorn (2,672 metres), Lipalian Mountain (2,714 metres) and Mount Victoria (3,464 metres) and provides 139 marked ski runs with the longest reaching 8 kilometres. During the winter months, the area also provides visitors with the opportunity to experience the thrill of dog-sledding, the delights of skating on the moonlit lake or the magic of gliding through the silent woods on cross-country skis.
Just to the north of Lake Louise the ‘Icefields Parkway’ is a scenic drive which runs parallel to the mountains of the continental divide and leads visitors to Jasper, the last town on the Trans-Canada Highway before reaching the northern border with Alaska. The parkway is noted for its stunning scenery of tumbling rivers, forested valleys and snow-capped peaks, and passes several glaciers as well as the Columbia Icefield which covers approximately 325 square kilometres and measures between 100 to 365 metres in depth, and the thundering Athabasca Falls. The road is also well known for the amount of wildlife which can often be seen.
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