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The day we visited Lake Louise for sunrise actually started several very dark hours earlier as we attempted (and failed) to view sunrise at a different (equally picturesque but horribly popular) sunrise destination: Moraine Lake. Our disappointing failure to see sunrise at Moraine Lake turned the corner into a magnificent day of hiking at Lake Louise, instead. Plus, we got the sunrise view we were yearning for at Lake Louise!

Please learn from our mistakes and go read the post on how to view sunrise at Moraine Lake so you can get it right the first time.

After being rejected from Moraine Lake, we tried our luck at the Lake Louise parking lot. The respective parking lots for Lake Louise and Moraine Lake are the bottlenecks that determine who will get in and who will be turned away. That morning, we were delighted to find the the Lake Louise parking lot was not full! A parking fee of $12.25 (this has gone up to $21.00 as of 2023) is enforced from 7am to 7pm.

Sunrise at Lake Louise was another thing we were expecting to be overrated, because our previous attempts at catching magnificent sunrises showed us that sunrise in the mountains is less about the cotton candy skies and more about watching the light change in general. Nonetheless, I’m so glad we got up early and saw sunrise at Lake Louise! Sunrise in the mountains is viewed facing west (to observe the light gradually drawing the mountain face out of darkness), and the westward view across Lake Louise toward the Devil’s Thumb mountain peak offers a very unique sunrise. Dawn in these northern locations causes the sky to already be pretty bright before the actual sunrise, so the pink and orange clouds I usually associate with sunrises aren’t the stars of the show here. But keep your eyes on the mountain straight ahead and as the rising sun peeks over the mountains behind you, you’ll see the snow-capped mountain start to glow orange. The shining mountain peak surrounded by the still relatively shadowed trees beside and opaque Lake Louise below is honestly magical.

After an awe-inspiring and truly unique sunrise experience, it was time for a day of hiking at Lake Louise…LOTS of hiking.