Boom Lake is a fantastic trail next to the Continental Divide in Banff National Park. This trail is 5.1 km one way to the lake, with just under 200 metres of elevation. This trail really surprised me. We arrived at the lake sooner than I anticipated, and the views were incredible. We even got serenaded by a couple of loons swimming along the water.
Boom Lake Hike Summary
- Difficulty: Easy-Moderate
- Distance: 10.2 km round trip
- Elevation: 175 metres
- Trail type: Out-and-back
- Time: 3-4 hours
- Trailhead: Boom Lake Day Use Area
Find Boom Lake Day Use parking lot off Highway 93 South, about 5 minutes after the exit from the Trans-Canada.
Detailed Trail Description
Boom Lake starts with a bridge over a creek right after leaving the parking lot. The forested trail has a relatively steady and gradual incline. Due to recent rains, there were muddy sections and some puddles along the path. I’d recommend waterproof hiking boots or trail runners. We started the hike at quarter to 11.
After around an hour of hiking, we crossed a small bridge over a little mossy creek. Around 15 minutes after that, we reached the boardwalk. This flat path makes for easy hiking. Less than 10 minutes past the boardwalk, we arrived at the lake. It took us an hour and a half to complete the trail out.
Boom Lake is a large, bright blue gems sitting in the shadow of Boom Mountain. The mountain ridge sits directly on the Continental Divide. This is the border between Alberta and British Columbia that is determined by the direction of flow from the creeks and rivers. On the BC side, all the water flows to the Pacific Ocean, while on Alberta’s side the rivers flow northeast towards the Hudson’s Bay.
We sat for around 30 minutes at the lake and ate lunch. We left around 12:45 and hiked back down. The return hike took us about an hour and fifteen minutes.
