Valley of Five Lakes Hike
This hike is one of those Must Do’s in Jasper National Park, and with good reason – it’s a relatively easy to moderate trail that goes through some stunning landscape. Families can cut the hike short and others (like us) can hike on and see all 5 lakes.
The color of the water is the amazing – Some lakes are an incredible emerald color, others deep blue. It’s a paradise of lakes!
Tips for Visiting
The lakes are numbered and we took the trail counterclockwise to go to Fifth Lake, finishing up at First Lake.
DISTANCE
9 km/5.5miles return
ESTIMATED TIME
3 hours
ELEVATION GAIN
100m/328feet
DIFFICULTY
Easy
The Valley of Five Lakes trail passes by such amazing lakes, and at Third Lake there’s a bonus – Red Chairs! Impossible to pass up a photo op when you run across these iconic Adirondack red chairs, and in the most beautiful settings.
Fun Facts!
The turquoise hues of lakes and rivers here get their color from what is known as rock flour, miniscule particles of bedrock ground by the glaciers. Ultimately the minerals enter rivers through glacier melt and turn the rivers milky looking, then flow into lakes where it turns the lakes an incredible hue of blue.
Fifth Lake Fifth Lake Fourth Lake of five 
fourth lake 
Third Lake red chairs Third Lake 
Third Lake Second Lake of five 
First Lake Valley of Five lakes First Lake of five 
First Lake 
Valley of Five Lakes hike
The last lake on the Valley of Five Lakes hike we came to was actually the one named First Lake. It’s the largest lake of the five and the first glimpse of the incredible blue-green you see is a peek through the trees from the trail above. Farther along the trail along the lake there are places to get down to it.
All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.
Martin Buber
