Joffre Lakes

August 9, 2024

Distance: 8.2km round trip

Elevation gain: 464m

Time required: 4.5-5 hours

I've been meaning to get to Joffre Lakes past Pemberton for quite a long time now. One of the big hurdles is the fact that you need to reserve a day pass in order to access the trail. And let me tell you, the day passes sell out in about 10 seconds, even during the week. Luckily, I was able to get two passes for me and my friend Emma. We drove in from Burnaby, which took about 2.5 hours. Although long, the drive along the Sea to Sky highway is beautiful.

The day was a bit smoky. You could both smell it and see it. It was worst in the morning and started clearing in the afternoon.

The trail is not overly long, nor difficult. There are three lakes. The first lake is only 5 minutes from the trailhead. Although all the lakes are beautiful, the first one is the least spectacular of the three.

Lower Joffre Lake

The journey from Lower Joffre Lake to Middle Joffre Lake is the hardest part of the hike. It is where most of the elevation gain is made. There are a few great views of the lower lake as you climb up the switchbacks.

Middle Joffre lake is stunningly turquoise. It is probably the brightest of the three lakes in terms of colour. There is a pit toilet at the lake.

Middle Joffre Lake. Two beautiful glaciers are visible below the peaks.

Once past the second lake, there is a short climb to a waterfall, Holloway Falls. This waterfall was powerful and really beautiful with its step-like structure.

Myself in front of Holloway Falls

Once past the waterfall, you've pretty much made it to Upper Joffre Lake. This is the biggest of the three lakes. There is a popular lookout and swimming spot along some rocks at the north end of the lake. There is also a pit toilet. The hike to this lookout took us 1 hour and 20 minutes. It is easily doable in about an hour at a fast pace.

Upper Joffre Lake

We decided to continue hiking the 20 extra minutes around the west side of the lake towards the campground. Here, you get closer views of the peaks behind the lake .There is also a trail that goes to Slalok Mountain. This a long, technical trail that requires climbing one of the glaciers to summit the peak so it is definitely only for the experienced.

Outflow from one of the glaciers into the lake

Slalok Mountain is the sharp arete on the right still covered in snow

Emma and I stopped at some rocks near the campground to have some lunch and put our legs in the water. We enjoyed taking in the views and cooling ourselves off. The bugs were kind of annoying but surprisingly not horrible. The lake was not super busy at that time.

We were lucky that we started our hike in the morning as the trail was extremely busy on the hike back. We passed dozens of people hiking up, including a surprising amount of babies and small children. There was a huge crowd of people at Middle Joffre Lake when we passed by on our way back (in contract to the couple of people we saw on our way there). The key to not facing huge crowds on very popular trails such as Joffre is to go in the early morning.

Overall, I'm very glad I finally made the journey out to Joffre Lakes. Although the drive is long, the lakes are beautiful and well worth the trip. The trail is well-suited to hikers of all experience levels, including beginners (but don't make the mistake of wearing flip flips and jeans as I unfortunately saw more than once).