Hike of the Week: Floe Lake

Enjoy stunning alpine reflections at BC's Floe Lake

Floe Lake

Rugged beauty flows from this spectacular alpine lake




by Craig Romano
photo by Craig Romano
produced by Michael Fagin

September 22, 2006

Quick FactsLocation: Canadian Rockies, southeastern British Columbia
Land Agency: (Parks Canada) Kootenay National Park
Roundtrip: 13.0 miles
Elevation gain: 2,300 feet
Access: From Coeur d’Alene, Idaho take US-95 110 miles north to the Canadian border. Now follow BC 95 135 miles north to Radium Hot Springs. Enter Kootenay National Park and proceed on BC 93 45 miles to the trailhead located on your left.
Notes: National Park entry fee; dogs prohibited.

British Columbia’s Kootenay National Park remains one of the best kept secrets in the Canadian Rockies. Often overlooked by tourists and hikers flocking to neighboring Banff, Kootenay offers magnificent scenery and abundant wildlife without the crowds. But it’s going to cost you. Most of the park’s trails are long and demanding.
Kootenay’s Floe Lake is one of the few day hikes into this spectacular park. Although the distance is a manageable 6.5 miles, the elevation gain is over 2,300’ with most of it all coming all at once near the outlet of the lake. But, boy is the effort worth it! Floe sits in the shadows of a massive limestone outcropping known as the Rockwall. This impenetrable barrier runs for over 30 miles and is over 3,000’ high in places. It acts as a natural snow-fence, depositing drifting snow into north facing clefts. The result: hanging glaciers that feed Floe Lake.
Floe captures not only this continual accumulation of snow, but a constant reflection of it hanging from the Rockwall. In the fall, shoreline larches light the entire basin into a golden hue. The trail is well-marked and well-maintained. Caution is advised however for this is prime grizzly country. Be sure to sing aloud while crossing the avalanche fans.