Nearly 40,000 Book Moraine Lake, Lake Louise Shuttles on Opening Day

Nearly 40,000 reservations were made on the first day bookings opened for shuttle access to Moraine Lake and Lake Louise, as demand surged for one of the most tightly managed visitor experiences in Banff National Park.

Parks Canada said just under 40,000 reservations were recorded during the initial launch day, a roughly 25% increase over the same period last year, even as the system handled tens of thousands of users in an online queue.

At peak times, Parks Canada reported about 75,000 users in the queue shortly after reservations opened, while some visitors shared their own experiences online indicating the queue may have reached as high as 120,000 users. Despite that volume, bookings moved steadily, with many users completing reservations in about 30 minutes.

“I did see, anecdotally, a queue of nearly 120,000 and they were still making their reservation within a three minute period,” said Colin DeBaie, who oversees visitor access for the Lake Louise, Yoho and Kootenay field unit.

The initial release represents 40% of the shuttle system’s seasonal capacity, which offers roughly 2,860 seats per day, about 167,000 seats made available at launch, with approximately 75% booked on the first day.

Each reservation can include up to 10 people, meaning the total number of visitors represented by those bookings is significantly higher than the number of transactions recorded.

Demand was strongest for mid-morning departures, with the 9 a.m. to noon window quickly becoming the most difficult to secure.

“We’re certainly seeing that the 9 o’clock to 12 o’clock departure really has high demand, and I think most people will probably struggle to find that availability at this stage,” DeBaie said.

While many high-demand dates and times were quickly snapped up, Parks Canada said the initial release is only part of the total inventory. The remaining 60% of seats will be released on a rolling basis at 8 a.m. two days before each travel date.

The shuttle system remains the primary way to access Moraine Lake, where private vehicles have been prohibited since 2023. Visitors must use the Parks Canada shuttle, book a commercial operator or arrive by bike.

This year also marks the first time Parks Canada will offer an accessible shuttle service, a change that has led to the removal of the last remaining private vehicle access to the lake.

Under the new system, visitors with accessibility needs are not required to identify themselves during the booking process. Instead, they can request accommodation on arrival at the Lake Louise Park and Ride, where accessible vehicles will be dispatched as needed upon presentation of a valid accessible parking permit.

“They would simply show up and inform the staff on site that they require accessibility accommodations, and we’ll have vehicles dispatched to get them to the location,” DeBaie said.

With that shift, Parks Canada is no longer providing dedicated accessible parking at Moraine Lake, which had been the only remaining exception to the vehicle restriction in recent years.

“We are no longer providing dedicated parking stalls for accessible private vehicles at Moraine Lake, as we did last year,” DeBaie said.

Despite the surge in demand, Parks Canada says the smooth rollout points to a system designed not just to handle volume, but to control access to some of the park’s busiest destinations.

Want to book the Moraine Lake or Lake Louise Parks Canada Shuttle? Visit our step-by-step guide.