Visiting Moraine Lake AB Canada with Young Toddler

I believe every Rockies buff has their personal favourite lake since every lake has its own discerning shade and colour. Lake Moraine’s is a sparkling turquoise, with a perceptible shade vividly darker and deeper than Lake Louise’s. Wrote about our hiking experience at Lake Louise here.

Visiting Moraine Lake with Young Toddler!

Getting There

Before 6pm, visitors have to take ticketed shuttle buses to get to Moraine Lake. Bus timings are pretty limited. Given fluidity in schedule is appreciated when it comes to travelling with a young toddler, we decided to wait till 6pm to visit so we could drive in with our own car.

The downside is that the canoeing service would be closed then, so do take note!

Our Experience

Fresh from hiking at the Lake Louise trail the day before, we opted not to do a lengthy hike at Moraine Lake but to take in whatever scenery we could near the start of the trail.

The scenery of Lake Moraine against the mountains was already breathtaking at the entrance.

We saw a rock boulder pile at the entrance where visitors could get up to take a panoramic, bird's eye view of Moraine Lake. The husband and my friend decided to attempt it while I stayed at the foot of the rock boulder pile with Gwen. I kept us entertained by rolling small rocks off a giant rock repeatedly which made Gwen giggle. She enjoyed this rock game so much that we were still playing it when my husband and friend ascended the rock boulder pile lol.

When they got down, my husband showed me sneak peeks from his camera. They raved about how beautiful it was at the top so I think it was well worth the physical exertion to get up there.

Did I regret not hiking to see the end-point or climbing up the rock pile? Absolutely not.

Sure I saw extremely limited scenery of Moraine Lake and spent half the time there tending to my wriggly active little toddler but there's no denying that I made beautiful memories all the same.

For me, Moraine Lake will always be remembered as the place I elicited pure sounds of laughter from Gwen and where my husband and friend looked like two HILARIOUS micro, waving human specks as they called out to me from top of the rock pile.

At Moraine Lake, I also got to realise and appreciate the irresistible appeal and beauty of nature.

Honestly, I didn't have to try very hard to occupy my little one when we were in the midst of nature. Gwen was simply fascinated by everything she saw and at their age, toddlers are so attuned to noticing every little detail, she even took interest in the weeds growing through the cracks of concrete.

It was funny because Gwen was more interested in exploring the rocks at Moraine Lake than the gorgeous lake itself. It's a true reminder that children live in the present and moment. Everything within reach is real, tangible and interesting. The mountains and the turquoise waters? Those have to take a backseat because they're unreachable.

More musings and reflections about hiking with young toddlers here if you're interested.

I'll love to return here when Gwen is older to complete the hike where we left off and make renewed memories here!

Follow #gweninnature for my chronicles of traipsing North America with a toddler and seeing nature through her eyes.