The Lodge at Bow Lake

The Lodge at Bow Lake is a historic mountain lodge on Bow Lake’s north shore, along Banff’s Icefields Parkway. The original timber-and-stone Lodge sits beside a separate Chalet, making this a seasonal overnight stay with the lake and peaks at the door. The historic Lodge is stair-access only; some first-floor Chalet rooms can be reached without stairs.

Meals are built into overnight stays: full breakfast, a packed lunch, afternoon snacks and a four-course dinner. That makes it easier to head out for a full day, but meal times shape when you’ll want to return. Drinks cost extra, and public dining for day visitors is not confirmed, so check before planning a meal stop.

Mountain guide Jimmy Simpson first passed this shore in 1898 and built the original lodge in 1922. About a decade later it had expanded into a 24-room inn with a parlour, dining room and horse stables. Simpson guided mountain tours and hunting parties for guests into the 1940s.

The building was once called Num-Ti-Jah Lodge. Stoney Nakoda Elders advised the new stewards that the name had not been officially gifted to Simpson and was spelled incorrectly, so they removed it at the Elders’ recommendation. The former name remains on older signs and map listings; The Lodge at Bow Lake is the current name.