Lake Louise Soft-sided Campground

Lake Louise Soft-sided Campground is a forested frontcountry campground with 206 unserviced sites for tents, tent trailers and small motorhomes or trailers up to 7 m. About 60 km northwest of Banff, it is a useful base for Lake Louise-area trails and Moraine Lake trips, but it is away from the lakeshore, so the lake is a separate outing. All sites are reservable, and reservations are required. It is seasonal, so check the current dates before booking.

This section is for tents and other soft-sided units. Because of seasonal bear activity, they must camp within the enclosed electric fence. The hard-sided campground is a separate area across the Bow River, so this is not the place for a hard-sided RV.

The sites are unserviced, with drinking water, flush toilets, hot-water showers, food-storage lockers, a sewage dump station, cooking and picnic shelters, and fire pits. There are fire and no-fire loops; reservations include fire permits where they apply, and firewood is provided for permit holders. Some sites are a walk from the shower building, so check the campground map if easy shower access matters. Free evening interpretive programs are offered at the campground theater; ask what is running during your visit. If you need a specific accessible site layout, confirm before booking because site-by-site access details are not clear.

The forested river setting is a draw, but train horns and nearby highway traffic are a recurring noise complaint, particularly at night. Some campers say they tune it out; others find it disruptive. Factor that in if a quiet night matters to you.