McArthur Lake in Yoho National Park

High up in the Canadian Rockies you can find McArthur Lake. To get here is no easy feat as it's located in the Lake O'Hara Backcountry Zone of Yoho National Park. Spaces are heavily restricted and you can read about getting to Lake O'Hara Here.

At 2265m above sea level, Lake McArthur is glacial fed and is frozen most of the year. You can see Mount Biddle and it's glacier in the background. These photos are from August 2023, during the middle of Summer.

We came here around eight in the evening, it was our second hike of the day and is about 3.5 kilometers from the campsite by Lake O'Hara. McArthur Lake is famous for being a dark sapphire like blue although it was a little choppy when we arrived. You can see just how fresh this water is, the lake is 85 m deep and pure.

The only thing up here is a sign and a path. There's a small trail up to the peak of Park mountain on the right and to the left is Schaffer mountain which separates McArthur Lake from Lake O'Hara. Some of the peaks in the area reach over 3000 m making this a Hikers Paradise.

We took the low Level circuit since it was going to get dark fast and clouds were coming in. You don't want to be stuck up on a ledge during a rainy night.

One gets exceptional views of McArthur Pass coming back down from the lake. Looking this way there is nothing but untouched wilderness for fifty kilometers.

The pass was just as captivating as the lake. You can see the difference in colour during our way there and back. It was a challenging day and we were ready to go back to the tent.

My phone was died on the way back as you can see we did a ton of hiking that day and took just as many photos.

I want to leave you with a painting of the lake from a hundred years ago. Hope it will make up for the rushed images taken from a camera low on batteries. Thank you for reading.

"Lake McArthur, Yoho Park (1924) by J. E. H. MacDonald"

All Photos taken with an S22 or iPhone 13 pro and are unfiltered