Lake O'Hara — Attraction in Area A (Kicking Horse/Kinbasket Lake)

Lake O’Hara is beautiful. It is also notorious for its absurd difficulty of access, which stems from efforts to preserve its extraordinarily pristine ambiance . The only way to access the lake is either a $10 ish (one way) bus ride or a 22km round trip schlep by foot from the parking lot (on the side of the highway ) to the lake.

Every year, hordes of nature lovers will apply for a random drawing, held between March 1 to March 30. “Successful applicants for the random draw will be notified on April 1,” and given a golden ticket for a bus ride and camp site. (The alternative is to pay $1000+ per night for a reservation at the lakeside lodge which guarantees transport to the lake)

Interested in biking your way to O’Hara? Well, you’re out of luck, as the road is tightly regulated by rangers and all bicycles are banned. Essentially your option is (elusive) bus or foot.

We didn’t know about this labyrinthine application system and were not keen on shelling out $$$$ for the lodge. So we casually (or naively?) dropped by the Lake O’Hara parking lot and unsurprisingly were told the bus was full. We ultimately decided to tackle the 11km one way journey by foot. It was fairly long and tedious (you should allocate 2-3 hrs, depending on level of fitness; overall quite hilly), though the time flew by when we decided to do the trek together with a lovely group of hikers who were also sans bus tickets (and had applied at least 3 times? unsuccessfully). While it is extremely difficult to secure a bus reservation to the lake, it’s much easier to hitch a bus ride back as there are no visitor capacity quotas in effect for that. And so you only need to do the walk one way in most cases. (Note that spots on the bus back are not guaranteed, so plan ahead)

As for the lake itself, it was absolutely gorgeous— crystal clear waters without the crowds of Moraine, Emerald, and Louise nearby, with a myriad of hiking options emanating from the shoreline. Not to mention 360 degree views of snow capped glaciers surrounding the lake… every vantage point was dazzling.

I have complicated feelings about the limited accessibility of the lake overall. Love O’Hara’s splendor but I also feel uneasy about how many people (without means to pay for the expensive lodging, without the physical stamina to hike 20+ km ) being excluded by the...

Actually, this is an amazing place — almost deserted, where you can truly enjoy nature. Beautiful forests, plenty of streams, wonderful lakes with an incredible shade of water on a sunny day. Magnificent mountain ranges, as well as the chance to encounter small wild animals and various birds.

Now, to the important part. Surely you know that you cannot get to this lake by private car, or by bicycle, motorcycle, or even an e-scooter — all of that is forbidden! You have two options: book a shuttle bus online (but it’s not something you can do spontaneously — you need to plan ahead and book it in early March, if I’m not mistaken), or go on foot.

I chose the second option… I went on foot. I should mention right away that I have an injured right foot, after a fracture I got when I fell off a roof. So, the walk to the lake is about 11.6 km, along an emergency fire road or something like that — basically, you’re walking on pavement. Naturally, the road goes up and down with various turns, etc. At a slow pace, considering my foot injury, I made it there in 3 hours and 15 minutes. On the trees to the left and right you’ll see signs marking each kilometer passed — black numbers on white squares.

Once you reach the lake, you’ll find trails going around the lake and up into the mountains to other lakes, for example Lake Oesa. And all the trails leading upward from the lake are simply breathtaking and scenic.

As for the way back, it also took me around 3 hours, since the pain in my foot got worse. I should note that on the way back you’re going downhill most of the time, which puts more pressure on your toes.

Overall, my trip lasted from 7:00 am to 3:30 pm. I was satisfied, but I doubt I’ll ever do it on foot again, because it’s too hard on my leg. Other people, I noticed, were walking much faster, and many were even running.

Also keep in mind that parking is free, but spaces are limited. I recommend arriving during the summer season before 7:00 am. Personally, I arrived at 6:30 am, and there were already more than 50 cars in the lot. Make sure to bring waterproof raincoats just in case, along with water and...

What a gem! This stunning lake is tucked away in a location that's off-the-beaten-path, understandably: Parks Canada specifically prohibited all personal vehicles on the 12km fire road leading to the lake, in order to reduce vehicle and foot traffic, protect the sensitive alpine ecosystems, and reduce disturbance in key wildlife movement corridors. However, this amazing beauty was TOTALLY worth the 12km each-way hike (so 24 km round-trip). The 12km fire road leading up to the lake was a gradual ascent so it wasn't tiring; and apparently it was possible to encounter bears along the path, but we were lucky to not have to confront any bears and were well-equipped with bear sprays anyway.

Lots of alpine hike options once you reach Lake O'hara. Please bring with you LOTS of water and snacks, a windbreaker, for higher-elevation hikes and bear sprays for a full day worth of hike!!! To make the most out of your experience and / or to make a multi-day trip out of it, you might wanna try and see if you can reserve a seat on the shuttle bus (the draw opens in April from what I heard) and a site at the campground. This will allow you to trek to different viewpoints at a slower pace, or just check off more hiking trails while you're there. However, take into consideration the time of the year, as you might not be able to access a lot of the hiking trails if it's still early in the season (May - June). If you visit around mid to late July, I would imagine that most trails are open. Please check with the Parks Canada visitor centre on current trail conditions BEFORE your visit.

We tried to book a shuttle bus ride, but were not lucky enough to get any bus seats due to EXTREMELY popular demand; nonetheless we kept ourselves busy for the entire day trekking to Lake O'hara, then from there we continued to Lake Oesa and returned to the parking lot. SO MANY breathtaking sights along the way. Lake Oesa was still half frozen (mid-June) and surely impressed as the final vista...