The Lake Louise Shuttle: Schedule, Cost, Tickets and Cancellation

Three shuttles share one ticket. The lakeshore shuttle and the Moraine Lake shuttle both leave the Park and Ride every 30 minutes, and the Lake Connector runs between the two lakes so you can do both in one day.

The two and a half hours between the last departure and the last return are the whole margin. A 5 pm shuttle up gives you about ninety minutes at the lake. If you want an evening there, drive and pay for parking instead, because the lot empties after the shuttles stop and there is no later bus.

The Alpine Start is a separate reservation for people who want Moraine Lake before dawn. It leaves from the lakeshore parking lot, not the Park and Ride, at 4:00 am and 5:00 am, and you ride the ordinary Lake Connector back. The sunrise page covers whether the light is worth the alarm.

A shuttle ticket is not a park pass. You need both. Daily park entry is $12.25 for an adult and $24.50 for a family or group, and a Discovery Pass costs $83.50 for an adult if you are in the mountains for more than about a week.

The fare covers the whole day: up to one lake, across to the other on the Lake Connector, and back down. There is no round-trip surcharge and no separate Connector ticket. The booking fee is charged once per reservation, not per person, so one booking for a family costs one fee.

1. Go to the Parks Canada reservation service at reservation.pc.gc.ca and choose Shuttles, then Lake Louise. Or phone 1-877-737-3783. The phone fee is higher and the line is slow on release mornings.
2. Choose the lake you want to reach first. A Lake Louise ticket and a Moraine Lake ticket both include the Lake Connector, so the choice only decides where the bus from the Park and Ride drops you.
3. Pick a date and a one-hour boarding block. Your ticket is good for any shuttle that leaves within that hour. Earlier blocks sell first, and the 6:30 to 7:30 am block is the one that goes within minutes of a release.
4. Enter the number of adults, seniors and youths, pay the fares plus the $3.50 booking fee, and save the confirmation. Phone signal at the Park and Ride is fine, but a screenshot never fails to load.
5. Arrive at 1 Whitehorn Road, Lake Louise at least fifteen minutes before your hour starts. Parking there is free. Bring your park pass, or buy one at the kiosk before you board.

Seats are released twice. 40 percent of the season went on sale on 15 April 2026, and the remaining 60 percent of every date are released at 8 am Mountain Time two days before that date. The second release is the larger one, and it is aimed at people who are already in the mountains and know what the weather is doing. Set an alarm for 8 am, two days out.

You can cancel or change a shuttle reservation up to 1 hour before the start of your boarding window. Inside that last hour the booking is locked, and a missed bus is not refunded.

In plain numbers: a family of two adults and two children books online for $37. Cancel the day before and $30 comes back. The $3.50 booking fee and the $3.50 cancellation fee stay with Parks Canada.

The exception is weather. If Parks Canada pulls the shuttle for snow, ice or a road closure, the reservation is cancelled from their end and every dollar comes back, booking fee included. Parks Canada only does that for conditions that close the road, so it is a May and October risk far more than a July one.

Every regular shuttle starts and ends at the Lake Louise Park and Ride, 1 Whitehorn Road, Lake Louise. That is the ski resort's base lot, across the Trans-Canada from the village. Parking there is free, and it is large enough that it does not fill.

There is no Parks Canada shuttle stop in the village, at the campground or at the hotels. From the village or the campground you walk or drive the two kilometres across the highway to the Park and Ride, or you take the Roam 8X, which does stop in the village on its way to the lakeshore. The only shuttle that boards anywhere else is the Alpine Start, which leaves from the lakeshore parking lot.

At the lakeshore and at Moraine Lake the shuttle uses the main parking lot, a short walk from the water. The Lake Connector uses the same two stops, so you never need to find a third.

The Lake Connector runs between Lake Louise and Moraine Lake from 1 June to 12 October 2026, every 30 minutes between 7:00 am to 6:00 pm, and it is included in your shuttle ticket. It is the reason to treat the two lakes as one trip rather than two.

The last Connector leaves Moraine Lake at 6:00 pm. After that the only bus out of Moraine Lake is the 7:30 pm shuttle back to the Park and Ride, so if your car is at the lakeshore lot, be on the Connector by six.

If you are staying in Banff or Calgary without a car, the Parks Canada shuttle is the last leg, not the first. Three services get you to the Park and Ride or the lakeshore.

The Roam 8X is the answer from Banff. It stops in the village and at the lakeshore, reservations are recommended in summer because the walk-up wait can reach two hours, and a Super Pass adds the Lake Connector to Moraine Lake without a separate Parks Canada booking. From 13 October it drops to a fall and winter timetable between Banff and Lake Louise only. The Banff page has the timetable.

From Calgary, Brewster Express is the one scheduled coach that reaches the lake, year round, from the airport and downtown hotels. The Calgary page compares it with hiring a car.

From 13 October to 14 May there is no Parks Canada shuttle, no paid parking and no Lake Connector. You drive to the lakeshore and park for free, and the lot that fills by 6 am in July has space at noon in January. Moraine Lake Road closes to every vehicle for the winter and becomes a ski trail.

The buses that do run in winter are the Roam 8X on its reduced timetable from Banff, Brewster Express from Calgary, and Lake Louise Ski Resort's own ski shuttles from Banff to the hill. The ski shuttles go to the resort, not the lake. The winter page covers what is open and how to drive up safely.

Wait for the 8 am release two days before. If that fails, a licensed commercial operator can still drive you up Moraine Lake Road, and Roam Transit can get you to Lake Louise itself. Driving to the lakeshore before sunrise remains an option for Lake Louise but never for Moraine Lake. The Moraine Lake page prices every option side by side.