Hector Lake

The largest natural lake in Banff National Park, located 16 km north of Lake Louise along the Icefields Parkway. Hector Lake is less visited than Bow Lake or Peyto Lake because it requires a 5 km hike from the highway to reach its shores.

The lake was named for Sir James Hector, geologist with the Palliser Expedition (1857–1860), who explored the Bow Valley in August 1858. Hector passed the site during his traverse from Kicking Horse Pass north along the upper Bow; among the first Europeans to record the true headwaters of the Bow. George Dawson named the lake in his honour. The lake drains into the Bow River system; Howse Pass lies west of Saskatchewan River Crossing in the same corridor.