Canoeing the Bow River – A Cheaper Alternative to Moraine Lake

Canoeing the Bow River – Banff National Park

You’ve probably seen photos of people paddling on the brilliant turquoise water of Moraine Lake with the towering snow-capped peaks in the background. It’s one of those photos that everyone wants to take when they visit Banff, and it’s tough to blame them.  Unfortunately, unless you bring your own canoe, rentals at Moraine Lake cost $105/hour. We found that a far less costly alternative was to rent a canoe on the Bow River in the town of Banff ($40/hour). The scenery was obviously not quite at the same level as Moraine (few places are), but it was still a beautiful place to paddle with the same glacial water and views of the surrounding peaks.

You start off by paddling west (upstream) along the Bow River, because if you were to paddle downstream, you would quickly find yourself tumbling over the edge of Bow Falls which would be a bummer to say the least. Since it was a windy day, paddling upstream turned out to be much more challenging than we were expecting and it ended up being a serious arm workout. Depending on the time of year, you can paddle along Forty Mile Creek into the Vermillion Lakes. Unfortunately for us, access to the lakes was obstructed by some pesky beavers, but the views from the river were not in the least bit disappointing. The color of the water was also incredible. The pictures don’t do it justice, but it really felt like we were paddling through a river of Glacier Freeze Gatorade, which turns out to be one of Gatorade’s more appropriately named flavors.

There are wildlife viewing opportunities along the river, and the Banff Canoe Club offers group canoe tours specifically for spotting wildlife. We didn’t see anything larger than a muskrat, but elk are often spotted along the river or near the Vermillion Lakes.

Look, the scenery on the Bow River is great but we’d be lying if we said that it was better than Moraine Lake or Lake Louise. Those places are on a different level. That being said, if you’re content enjoying those views from shore or from one of the many nearby hiking trails and can forego that iconic canoe photo in Moraine Lake, then you can save yourself a good chunk of money by satisfying your canoe craving on the Bow River instead.