Parking
Park at the Lake O’Hara parking lot off the highway. Le Relais is 11 km up the restricted access road; use the reserved shuttle or walk the road each way.
Overview
About Lake McArthur Circuit
Why go
- A blue alpine lake reached by a varied full circuit
- Larch forest, open meadows and a true mountain pass
Heads up
- Lake O’Hara access adds a reservation or a 22 km road walk
- High elevation and a rocky ledge make early-season conditions important
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Yoho map
Full mapElevation2,030–2,293 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Best time to go
Safety
5 active Yoho alerts
- ClosureYoho Valley Road closed for avalanche seasonYoho Valley Road is closed to vehicles from mid-October to mid-June because of avalanche risk. - Parks Canada’s current trail report lists no vehicle access to trails in the Yoho Valley.Official details
- CautionWatercraft and angling prohibited in YohoWatercraft use and angling are prohibited on all waterbodies in Yoho National Park until March 31, 2027, to reduce the spread of aquatic invasive species, including whirling disease.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Yoho Tour Guide
Your drive to Lake McArthur Circuit, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Yoho National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Yoho audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Lake O’Hara: Arrange the Access First0:00 / 0:36
“You're nearing the Lake O'Hara access road, but the lake is eleven kilometres beyond the highway parking lot.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Yoho Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- A Predator With a Softer Menu
- Lower Spiral Tunnel: Climbing Inside the Mountain
- Sherbrooke Lake and Paget Lookout: Choose Your Climb
- The Bird That Plants Pines
- 35 audio storiesacross Yoho’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Grizzly Bear, Mountain Goat, Black Bear, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 54 trails, 58 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Lake McArthur Circuit
The loopThe 8 km loop begins at Le Relais Day Shelter and climbs about 310 m through alpine meadow and…
The 8 km loop begins at Le Relais Day Shelter and climbs about 310 m through alpine meadow and larch forest to McArthur Pass. It descends to Lake McArthur’s north shore on the Low Level route, then returns by the high-level circuit, Schäffer Lake and Big Larch. Allow 3.5 to 4 hours with time at the lake. This is a moderate half-day hike at high elevation, with open alpine stretches and a rock ledge near the lake.
Start at the right placeLe Relais is 11 km up the restricted Lake O’Hara access road from the parking lot.
Le Relais is 11 km up the restricted Lake O’Hara access road from the parking lot. A shuttle carries hikers to the shelter, but seats need advance reservation. Walking the road is allowed and adds 22 km round trip before the circuit; bicycles are prohibited. Plan this access before setting out.
Out through meadow and passFrom Le Relais, head west and stay on the circuit where Big Larch branches for the return.
From Le Relais, head west and stay on the circuit where Big Larch branches for the return. The trail crosses an alpine meadow beside Elizabeth Parker Hut and the Linda Lake junction, then climbs southwest through larch forest for about 800 m. It reaches the south end of Big Larch, crosses a bridge over Schäffer Creek and continues through McArthur Meadows. Keep to the circuit at the Lake McArthur Trail junction. The route passes the separate Odaray Highline junction before reaching McArthur Pass. Take the west branch down the Low Level route, along a rock ledge and through open meadow to the lake’s north shore.
At the lake, then backLake McArthur sits in a hanging valley ringed by Schäffer Ridge, Mount Biddle and Park Mountain.
Lake McArthur sits in a hanging valley ringed by Schäffer Ridge, Mount Biddle and Park Mountain. The blue water and steep surrounding slopes make this the natural place to stop for a while. For a photo, include part of the shoreline or trail in the foreground so the basin has scale.
Return by the high-level circuit toward Schäffer Lake, then follow Big Larch. The path winds below a large rockfall, climbs, levels through larch forest and reaches the lake shore. Later it drops steeply at Devil’s Rockpile before leveling through the alpine meadow back to Le Relais. The larches turn gold in autumn.
A sensitive alpine corridorMcArthur Valley connects the western and eastern Rocky Mountain slopes and supports wildlife…
McArthur Valley connects the western and eastern Rocky Mountain slopes and supports wildlife movement. Grizzlies and mountain goats use the adjacent Odaray Plateau, which is closed in summer; stay on the marked circuit at the junctions. Elizabeth Parker Hut, beside the meadow near the start, dates to 1911 and is the oldest building in the Lake O’Hara area.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Yoho
21 sightingsGrizzly BearMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
55 sightingsMountain GoatMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
61 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
66 sightingsElkMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
26 sightingsMooseMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
10 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Yoho. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
