Rockpiles — Local services in Alberta

Oh my, what a heavenly place! Not easy to get to, in fact, it's an outright ordeal to get to it. The Parks Can shuttle is quite bad, infrequent, packed, queues, scruffy old buses, erratic schedules. And 15$, not very cheap either. But it's the only way so they got you. There is NO public parking at Moraine Lake and recent construction, the roads around it are a mess. Indeed getting to the lake by any means is tough business.

The 'rockpile' yields great views, amazing views but it is crowded, queued, people everywhere, noise all over, lots of rock steps and lots of stones to trip on. Be super careful. The lake is full of canoes so give up a peaceful view. (Canoes are 160CAD/1hr, pretty amazing that nobody cares about money here).

But the views...amazing. High blue glacier, rock slide slopes, the blue water (2 folks were swimming, August 2024, noon, 65F). WCs are holes in the ground, no running water. Chipmunks must be trained because they're everywhere and very friendly (bring some nuts if...

First of all, this lake is extremely, I emphasize it again, extremely, difficult to get in to. I went to Moraine Lake to see the sunrise on this pile of rock, and arrived at 4:38 AM on a Thursday. There were Park employees and a RCMP at the Lake Louise Dr and Moraine Lake Rd intersection blocking it. Apparently, the Moraine Lake parking was full. There were ‘No Left Turn’ sign and ‘No U-Turn’ sign, which meant that I needed to drive all the way up to Lake Louise and then drive down nearly to the town of Lake Louise, and then try again. If you are lucky, you may be granted access when you are heading down. So, I did that loop thrice then gave up, but do not make the same mistake I made since it is highly unlikely in early in the morning because no one will be leaving. Later in the day, around 4:30 PM, I was able to get in, on the way down from Lake Louise, which also took at least three loops to get into. At the end of the day, it was indeed worth the drive and the hike up the rockpile to see the...

This beautiful place is now needed to be managed by government. Not only the number of cars to be entered (which are lucky ones, not by lining up or waiting, just good timing), but also the number of Tourist from overseas & Tourist from Canada. So many tourist from overseas, who has no manners and etiquettes, not following the rules of Canada and simple basic rules "do not feed wildlife". I watched those Chinese children lined up for feeding chipmunks peanuts, I guess that's even imported from China without custom declaration?

Park Canada should develop different charge systems for Canadians VS Tourist from overseas. In current systems, lots of Canadians are damaged by Tourists not only the beautiful Canadian Natures, but also, the culture of Canadian. Canadian who never see their own country landmarks by the invaders, the tourists...