A small but world-famous glacial lake of astonishing turquoise, set below the Canadian Rockies.
Surface area
—
Maximum depth
about 70 m
Elevation
1,750 m
Continent
North America
Countries
Canada
Did you know?
Its vivid turquoise colour comes from 'rock flour' — glacier-ground mineral dust suspended in the meltwater.
Little-known fact
The glacier that feeds it, Victoria Glacier, hangs dramatically above the far end of the lake.
Highlights
- A jewel of the Canadian Rockies
- Coloured by glacial rock flour
- Fed by a hanging glacier
Life in the Lake Louise
The fish and animals, waterbirds and water plants — including some of the rarest — that this water supports.
Animals & fish
North American beaver
Nature’s engineer: its dams create wetlands that reshape whole river valleys.
Waterbirds
Mallard
The familiar green-headed dabbling duck — ancestor of most domestic ducks — found on waters worldwide.
Interactive · 3D dive
How deep does a lake go?
A lake is layered from the sunlit, weed-filled shallows down to a cold, dark bed. Tap a zone to dive the submersible through the water column — and meet the life that belongs at each depth.
Tip: hover the column to tilt it · tap a layer to dive
Littoral Zone
The warm, bright band close to shore where sunlight reaches the bottom. Reeds, water lilies and rooted plants grow thickly here, making it the busiest, most crowded part of the whole lake.
Who lives here