Lake Louise Webcam – Banff’s Turquoise Glacier Lake

The Lake Louise Webcam sits on the roof of the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise and looks west down the lake to Victoria Glacier in Banff National Park, Alberta. It is not a video stream but a 360-degree panorama, refreshed every 10 minutes, so one frame holds the turquoise water, the forested flank of Fairview Mountain on the left, the Beehive side of the valley on the right and the hotel’s own wings at either edge. You can pan the full circle, zoom in on the glacier and step back through earlier images. The camera works from dawn to dusk, so overnight the viewer holds the last evening panorama. New frames start again after sunrise without anything needing to be reloaded.

About Lake Louise

Lake Louise is a glacial lake at 1,750 meters (5,740 feet), about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) long, 0.5 kilometers (0.3 miles) wide and up to 70 meters (230 feet) deep. Its color comes from rock flour, fine silt ground from the mountains by glacier ice and washed in by meltwater, with the Lefroy Glacier among the main sources. The camera itself stands at 1,767 meters (5,797 feet), just above the eastern shore.

At the far end of the frame, Mount Victoria rises to 3,464 meters (11,365 feet), with Victoria Glacier draped across its face. Fairview Mountain, 2,744 meters (9,003 feet), fills the left side of the view, while the Big Beehive, Mount Niblock and Mount Whyte stand on the north side of the lake to the right. Tom Wilson reached the shore in 1882 and called it Emerald Lake. It was later renamed for Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, a daughter of Queen Victoria.

The Canadian Pacific Railway opened the first chalet here in 1890 and built the hotel up over the decades that followed. The Painter Wing of 1913 is the oldest part still standing. A fire on July 3, 1924 destroyed the Rattenbury Wing, and the Barott Wing replaced it in 1925, with the Mount Temple Wing added in 2004. The hotel opened only in summer until it was winterized in 1982. Fairmont Hotels and Resorts now manages its 539 rooms on 8 floors, inside a national park that is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Weather and Climate in Lake Louise

Winters are long and hard. At the weather station in the hamlet of Lake Louise, a little lower down the valley at 1,600 meters (5,200 feet), January averages highs of -5.4 C (22.3 F) and lows of -18.4 C (-1.1 F), and the record low is -52.8 C (-63.0 F). About 279 centimeters (110 inches) of snow falls in an average year. The lake starts to freeze around November and is usually solid by December, when the camera looks out over a flat white plain, often with a cleared skating rink on it. Avalanche hazard makes the tea house trails unsafe from November until mid-May.

Spring arrives late. The ice usually goes out in the last week of May or the first week of June, and only then does the turquoise color return. July averages highs of 20.4 C (68.7 F) but lows of just 4.7 C (40.5 F), so summer mornings start cold even on clear days. A wet day can hide Victoria Glacier entirely behind cloud, leaving only the lower slopes and the water in view.

Things to Do Near Lake Louise

The lakeshore path stays open all year and is the easy way to walk toward the glacier end of the frame. From the shore, the Lake Agnes trail climbs about 400 meters (1,310 feet) over roughly 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles), past Mirror Lake, to the Lake Agnes Tea House at 2,135 meters (7,005 feet), and the Little Beehive and Big Beehive lookouts sit above it. The Plain of Six Glaciers trail follows the shore and then the valley toward Victoria Glacier, gaining a similar 400 meters (1,310 feet) and ending at a second tea house with close views of Mount Victoria and Mount Lefroy. Both tea houses are privately run and open from mid-May until after Canadian Thanksgiving in mid-October.

Moraine Lake, the other famous lake in this corner of the park, is reached by a road that Parks Canada closed to private vehicles in 2023. From June to mid-October, Parks Canada shuttles and licensed commercial operators run up it, and you can also walk or cycle it. In winter the frozen lake below the camera has a free skating rink, usually from mid-December to mid-April. The hamlet and Lake Louise Ski Resort are about 60 kilometers (37 miles) from the town of Banff, and the Icefields Parkway begins just north of the hamlet.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

More Rocky Mountain and lake cameras to watch next:

• Spray Valley Webcam
• Lake Como Webcam
• Banff Aurora Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Lake Louise located?

Lake Louise is in Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta, Canada. The hamlet below it is about 60 kilometers (37 miles) from the town of Banff and about 180 kilometers (110 miles) west of Calgary.

What can you see on the Lake Louise Webcam?

The main view looks west along the lake to Mount Victoria and Victoria Glacier, with Fairview Mountain on the left and the Beehive side of the valley on the right. Because it is a 360-degree panorama, you can also turn around to the Chateau’s wings, rooftops and grounds.

Is the Lake Louise Webcam a live video?

No. It is a 360-degree panorama that refreshes every 10 minutes during daylight. The viewer keeps an archive, so you can step back through earlier images and compare the light or the weather.

Why is the Lake Louise Webcam not updating at night?

The camera only captures panoramas between dawn and dusk. Overnight the viewer holds the last evening image, and new frames begin again after sunrise on their own.

What is the weather like in Lake Louise?

Cold for most of the year. January averages -5.4 C (22.3 F) by day and -18.4 C (-1.1 F) at night at the hamlet’s station, while July averages 20.4 C (68.7 F) by day and 4.7 C (40.5 F) at night.

Why is Lake Louise so blue?

The color comes from rock flour, fine particles of rock ground by glaciers and carried into the lake by meltwater. The particles stay suspended in the water and give it the turquoise shade the camera shows once the ice is gone.

When does Lake Louise freeze?

The lake usually starts to freeze in November and is solid by December. The ice typically melts in the last week of May or the first week of June.

Can you drive to Moraine Lake from Lake Louise?

Not in a private car. Parks Canada closed Moraine Lake Road to personal vehicles in 2023, so access is by Parks Canada shuttle or a licensed commercial operator from June to mid-October, or on foot or by bike.

Source: Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise