Visitor Use Management Plan for the Lake Louise Area

• assessing the feasibility, desirability and viability of strategies and actions to achieve or maintain desired conditions;
• selecting strategies and actions for implementation;
• identifying visitor capacities where necessary and developing allocation mechanisms; and
• developing a monitoring strategy to evaluate the effectiveness of actions and adapting if needed.

The final Lake Louise Area Visitor Use Management Plan is anticipated later in 2026. Select strategies and actions will begin being implemented as early as summer 2027. Notice of any significant changes will be provided to the tourism industry with 18 months notice.

• improving infrastructure, increasing the ability of the site to handle use;
• influencing visitor behaviours, attitudes and expectations;
• deciding which activities are permitted and where and when they are permitted;
• increasing the supply (e.g. the amount of shuttle seats or campsites);
• or, as a last resort, by reducing the amount of use (e.g. managing access).

Managing access is considered when no other combination of actions will achieve the desired conditions.

Managing congestion already requires managing access to some locations:

• Access to some locations (e.g. Moraine Lake and Upper Lake Louise) is already limited by parking, road, shuttle and transit capacities. Vehicles are redirected away from Upper Lake Louise daily in summer to maintain safety.
• If developed, formal capacities would be based on transparent, measurable limiting attributes such as infrastructure capacity, emergency response, ecological indicators, and people per square metre. These are evidence-based, specific, adjustable and would differ by location.
• Allocation mechanisms would be developed with input from partners and stakeholders and 18-months notice provided before implementation.

Parks Canada remains committed to both ecological integrity in national parks and to providing Canadians with opportunities to discover and enjoy these places. We will continue to work with partners to welcome large numbers of visitors while protecting this special place and the exceptional experiences Canadians expect for future generations.

Parks Canada is using the Visitor Use Management Framework as a planning tool to assist in the development of strategies to address challenges with increasing visitation levels and changing visitor use patterns in some locations.

This step-by-step framework was developed by the US Interagency Visitor Use Management Council. It is recognized as a best practice for sustainable tourism in protected areas by the International Union for the Conservation of Biodiversity (IUCN) and is now used worldwide.

The plan will promote safe and efficient visitor movement and transportation in the Lake Louise area, with a focus on peak visitor season (May to October). It will be adaptive and iterative in nature and changes to appropriate actions may be made over time based on changing area conditions.

The plan will outline:

• Key attributes and values
• Key issues and concerns
• Current conditions
• Desired conditions to maintain or achieve
• Strategies and actions to achieve desired conditions
• Monitoring and evaluation

This plan focuses on the Lake Louise area (see map below) including Upper Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, Paradise Valley, the Lake Louise Park and Ride, and the transportation corridors that link them.

The community of Lake Louise is addressed separately through the Lake Louise Community Plan. A separate process to update the community plan is also underway.

Strategies and actions are guided by the following core principles.

• Ecological integrity – To ensure visitor use at popular sites is managed to protect wildlife, habitats, and natural processes and that proposed actions reduce ecological pressures to help sustain Banff National Park’s ecological integrity long-term.
• Quality visitor experience – To ensure that proposed actions support safe, diverse, and enjoyable experiences for all visitors.
• Accessibility and affordability – To ensure that the core offer remains accessible to visitors of all abilities and incomes.
• Collaboration – To work with regional partners including municipalities, Indigenous communities, transportation providers, and the tourism industry to address shared challenges, streamline efforts, and support regional integration.
• Multi-faceted solutions – Recognizing that no single solution in isolation will meet all project goals and resolve all issues. An integrated suite of actions will be used to achieve the desired conditions.
• Data-driven adaptive management – To ensure that data and monitoring are used to guide decisions, safeguard resources and infrastructure, and adapt as conditions change.
• Fairness and transparency – To maintain market competitiveness and support multiple business models by considering multi-modal access options and various value-added offers, while ensuring that capacities are allocated in a transparent manner with input from stakeholders.
• Sustainability – To ensure that core offers and decisions are environmentally and financially sustainable, with a focus on Banff National Park’s long-term environmental health and operational viability.

Strategies and actions must comply with laws, policies and the Parks Canada mandate:

Can propose

• Type, location and timing of permitted visitor activities.
• Type, location and number of services and facilities in the park.
• Park infrastructure improvements on the existing development footprint.
• Swapping visitor infrastructure at one location for another less developed location.
• Preferred visitor behaviours, attitudes and expectations and ways to influence these.
• Enforcement activities for current acts and regulations.
• Desired conditions for specific locations, and strategies and actions to maintain or achieve the desired conditions.
• Where, when and how proposed strategies and actions are implemented, ideally within the next 5–7 years.

Cannot propose

• Actions that contradict Canada National Parks Act, Parks Canada Mandate, 2022 Banff National Park Management Plan, or the Lake Louise Area Strategy.
• Activities outside the project area or in the community of Lake Louise (e.g. at Samson Mall, on Village Road, on CPKC Lands, on leaseholds).
  
  Why?

  • A separate engagement process is underway to update the Lake Louise Community Plan which addresses development and land use within the legislated community boundaries of Lake Louise (i.e. the townsite). The plan is required by the Canada National Parks Act. The updated Community Plan will provide Parks Canada with guidance about how to achieve objectives in the Banff National Park Management Plan while reiterating legislated limits to growth as required by the Canada National Parks Act.
• Expanding the net footprint of visitor infrastructure.
  
  Why?

  • With visitation expected to grow, expanding the developed footprint in the national park is not a sustainable solution to address congestion and is inconsistent with the 2022 Banff National Park Management Plan.
  • The parking at the Lake Louise Park & Ride is on track to expand by 1,300 stalls under the pre-approved Lake Louise Ski Area Long-Range Plan. This will help to accommodate further shuttle and alternative transportation use by providing access to parking for visitors using alternative transportation to visit Lake Louise and Moraine Lake.
• Increasing human activity in wildlife corridors.
  
  Why?

  • While it seems large, much of the Lake Louise area is rock and ice. Wildlife corridors (typically valleys and open forests) are necessary for animals move safely to find food, mates, and adapt to seasonal changes. Several secondary roads and trails in the Lake Louise area cut through wildlife corridors and can become barriers to wildlife movement if they become too busy.
  • During public engagement for the park management plan and for desired conditions in the Lake Louise area, Parks Canada heard strong support from Canadians for actions that support wildlife movement through key wildlife corridors in Banff National Park.
• Increasing visitation volumes at Moraine Lake or Paradise Valley.
  
  Why?

  • Moraine Lake Road was permanently closed to personal vehicles in 2023 due to congestion and safety concerns. Today, nearly all visitors arrive by shuttle or with commercial operators. This has reduced the volume of road traffic, but parking lots remain congested, trails crowded, washroom lines are long, and environmental impacts like erosion, wildlife disturbance, and waste are increasing. As demand for commercial access continues to grow increasing volumes is not a long-term solution.
  • Paradise Valley is a sensitive backcountry area. It provides important habitat for wary species, such as grizzly bears. While it sees relatively few visitors, visitation grows each year. Lesser visited areas like Paradise Valley provide wildlife with relatively undisturbed and seasonally important habitat away from crowds and are increasingly important habitat. Parks Canada will continue to provide Canadians with opportunities to discover and enjoy Paradise Valley in ways that maintain its ecological integrity for future generations.
• Preferential access for different user groups.
  
  Why?

  • Parks Canada is not considering preferential access for different use groups.
• Issuing tickets for national park violations.
  
  Why?

  • Parks Canada cannot issue tickets or fines in Banff National Park. Implementing the ability to issue tickets would require legislative changes and a province-wide approach. This is outside the scope of the Banff National Park’s Lake Louise Visitor Use Management Plan.
• Changing set fees, considering surge/demand pricing or implementing tiered pricing.
  
  Why?

  • Many fees in the national parks have been set under the Parks Canada Agency Act, and align with the requirements of the Service Fees Act. These fees (including camping, parking and entry fees) apply to all Parks Canada administered places and cannot be changed locally. Changes to pricing would require a nationwide approach and are outside the scope of Banff National Park’s Lake Louise Visitor Use Management Plan.

Some of the resources and values that are most important and authentic to the Lake Louise area include:

• A wide variety of recreational opportunities: The Lake Louise area is a premier destination that provides many recreational experiences. Visitors to the area stroll alongside glacial lakes, hike through golden larches, paddle through mountain lakes, and climb peaks in the backcountry. There are options for groups of all sizes and abilities.
• Outstanding viewscapes: World renowned views of turquoise lakes, glaciers, mountain peaks and golden larches attract amateur and professional photographers from around the world.
• Vital wildlife corridors: The Fairview and Whitehorn wildlife corridors provide critical habitat for large carnivores to travel through the area, find mates and food. Grizzly bears, wolves, and lynx are a few of the species that use these corridors.
• Alpine and subalpine ecosystems: Ecosystems contain lakes, meadows, forest, and habitat for sensitive species. The area is home to a wide variety of plants and animals, including sensitive species such as grizzly bear, wolverine, whitebark pine, little brown myotis, barn swallow, and western toad.
• Culturally significant area for Indigenous peoples: The Lake Louise area lands and waters have been used for millennia by Indigenous peoples for sustenance, ceremony, trade, and travel.

In the early 2010s visitors to the Lake Louise area could find parking on all but the busiest summer long weekends. Between 2010 and 2019, vehicle traffic on Lake Louise Drive increased over 70%. In 2023/24 Banff National Park saw 4.28 million visits, the busiest year on record.

Parks Canada has implemented many actions to manage visitation including shuttles, reservation services, paid parking, and transit promotional campaigns. These strategies have successfully reduced traffic volumes by 23% since their peak in 2019 while accommodating more visitors than ever.

Explore a brief history of visitor use management actions in the Lake Louise area.

• Timeline of Milestones

Visitor Experience | Facilities and Operations | Natural and Cultural Resources | Staff and Visitor Safety