Feedback sought to ease crowding in Lake Louise visitor areas

Lake Louise is a weekend escape for Calgarians, a bucket-list trip for tourists and a hot spot for influencers. That all leads to overcrowding.

Parks Canada is once again looking for feedback on ways to manage overcrowding in the Lake Louise area.

The Lake Louise visitor use management plan will guide decisions on how visitor use is managed in the area for the next five to seven years.

“2.6 million people visit the Lake Louise area annually,” said François Masse, Lake Louise field unit superintendent.

“As visitation continues to increase, new approaches and tools are needed.”

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In the past few years, Parks Canada says it has used multiple strategies to manage congestion, including reservable shuttles and paid parking.

But visitation continues to increase, and Parks says new approaches and tools are needed.

Public engagement conducted in 2024 asked the public to provide details about recent experiences and what barriers they faced when visiting Lake Louise.

More than 1,000 respondents submitted their thoughts in an online survey.

Seventy-nine per cent of survey respondents were from Alberta, including Lake Louise, Banff, Canmore and Exshaw.

Eighteen per cent of respondents were from elsewhere in Canada, and two per cent reside in another country.

Many respondents (62 per cent) mentioned overcrowding as a barrier to visiting and enjoying the area.

This was followed by a lack of available parking and challenges with the Parks Canada shuttle service.

Some of the ideas to come out of the feedback period were a parking reservation system, parking time limits or a summertime ban on personal vehicles on Lake Louise Drive.

“People are not coming here expecting to get the Costco parking lot vibe,” said Masse.

“That’s something we have to be very careful to listen to.”

Now, Parks Canada is inviting people to once again share their thoughts on these potential strategies and actions.

Lake Louise and Moraine Lake are among the most popular destinations in Canada.

In October 2025, Banff town council told CTV News it was also working with Parks Canada to address long-term congestion.

Those interested in sharing their thoughts have until March 9 to fill out the online form.

Local’s perspective

Bill Keeling has lived in Lake Louise for 33 years and has seen a lot of change in that time.

“If you came here in 1996, July, Sunday, noon, you could drive up to Moraine Lake, go for a hike, drive back, get parking, no problem,” said Keeling.

“In 2016, we realized we had a problem—we had too many cars in town.”

Keeling would like to see the prevention of RV parking at Lake Louise’s upper parking lot and continued encouragement for individuals to use public transportation.

He is also against the Canada Strong Pass, which gave free access to National Parks.

“The nickname in the Bow Valley is the Carney carnival pass,” said Keeling.

“I can appreciate that in smaller parks in Nova Scotia, (it’d) be great to get a boost in summer traffic. Our park is overwhelmed already, and the park needs to be funded—there’s infrastructure that needs to be upgraded.”

People will once again be able to take advantage of that pass this summer.