Maligne Lake

47 kilometers south and east of Banff is the second largest glacial lake in the World. Motor launch tours are available and canoes can be rented. This is one of the only lakes in the Rocky Mountains where motorized boats are allowed (another being Lake Minnewanka near Banff) . A leisurely 90 minute guided boat cruise will bring you to mystical Spirit Island. Tours depart hourly throughout the summer months. You can step off the boat near the island and take pictures as thousands before you have.

This is a magical place!

Hiking Maligne Canyon - The Maligne River flows in and then disappears!

A One Kilometer Hike. Take the easy and shorter canyon loop and see steep canyons where the walls are eroding 1 inch every 5 years, a dramatic waterfall and the teahouse. Examine the rock here and see fossilized remains of Sea Creatures. This terrain was once very much underwater!
The three Kilometer Hike. Visit the upper and lower canyon and see the waterfalls, teahouse area, six bridges, ever-deepening canyon and the flow point of an underground river from Medicine Lake. Medicine Lake (called "bad medicine" by early natives) can actually disappear entirely into the underground caverns and cave networks that drain the lake. Be sure to note how the stream at the beginning of the canyon becomes a river by the end of the walk. It is fed by spring water from underneath!!

Maligne Lake should have been named after Mary Schaffer, a quaker who was the first Caucasion to lay eyes on its mesemerizing beauty. Instead the nearby Maligne River, and later the lake, were named by a Jesuit missionary who had trouble crossing the river. Maligne in French means "wicked".