Horseshoe Lake

How to get there:

This is a cool dive in more ways than one! Horseshoe Lake is on the Icefields Parkway (highway #93) 25 km toward Banff from Jasper. There is a good sign with the parking area directly on your left beside the road. From the parking area you have to walk in down a trail that splits into two trails when it reaches the lake. If you go to the left you will come to a boat dock that, while rickety, is a good place to enter the water from. Taking the trail to the right will take you to anther entry point.

Level:

This is a good novice dive but has steep drop offs.

Conditions:

The first entry point I mentioned (left trail) enters the water in a small shallow bay. The water clarity is incredible! The temperature of the water is also incredible! The bay opens into the main lake which has tall cliffs on each side that continue down into the water.

The bottom is very rocky, with large boulders and outcroppings. The drop off is very steep to a maximum depth of about 100 feet.

The thermocline is very pronounced! Temperatures vary between 4 and 10 degrees Celsius.

The walls on each side of the lake are very interesting, there are old rock slides underwater too! The pockets, ledges and overhangs make for a fascinating dive.

Life:

Supposedly there are a lot of fish here although I have not seen many. We did find a few fishing lures, though.

Precautions:

There are the usual canoes and row boats as with all lakes in Jasper.

Highlights:

The rock formations and large underwater boulders are very exciting.

Return to: [Alberta Mountain Region Dive Sites][Alberta Diving][Jasper Dive Sites]

If you have any comments or suggestions (write a review for us!), send email to Andrew Fairservice or Fred Moody.

Last updated: Monday, April 08, 1996 9:03:36 PM