Horseshoe Lake, Jasper

A new stop for us in Jasper was Horseshoe Lake, which is located south of town on the Icefields Park way just north of Athabasca Falls. There is a gravel parking lot on the east side of the highway. There is pit toilet and room for maybe 15 cars.

Access is an adventure. The lake is shaped like a horseshoe with the two ends on the south side. To get to the lake, you have to walk down a steep path about 400 feet. The first access is pretty dodgy (see below), with lots of fallen trees to thread through (the water was also very high this year). 

The was the access we used and you basically paddled out and then made a very sharp right after the saskatoon bush in the water. The alternative is to hike through a windy trail maybe another 200 feet to the other end. This is tricky unless you have an inflatable SUP.

Once on the lake, the paddle is amazing with clear water and stunning cliffs. I'll let the pictures tell the tale.

This was one of the nicest paddles I've had in the mountains and made the difficult access worthwhile. Another family was in tied up at the bend in the lake and rock climbing of the water. There were also cliff jumpers!