Flawless Joffre Lakes Provincial Park!
Recommended to me by…read morefriendly hikers I met at Glacier National Park of Canada and again bumping into them while at Mount Revelstoke NP.
JOFFRE LAKES = BEST ACTIVITY I did on my 2023 journey throughout Canada!
To access Joffre Lakes Park, you must make a reservation online at least 2 days prior to your visit. The website is - bcparks.ca.
And conveniently, when I pulled up Joffre Lakes on Google Maps, I was immediately directed to the website with zero hassles in booking a pass for the day.
Booking a reservation starts at 7am - Pacific Time.
Surprisingly, I had my choice of a Thursday or Friday at the end of June. I couldn't believe there were available passes for both days in peak summertime.
Usually when a landmark destination now has to be limited to a certain number of visitors per day (think Zion, Yosemite and Glacier NP's) that usually means the popularity of the park is so great that passes sell out the moment they're available!
So, when I logged onto bcparks.ca at 7am, there were passes to be had and it's absolutely free to book!
There are 3 lakes to explore at Joffre. They are the Lower, Middle and Upper Lakes.
After passing through the Ranger Station at 8am and displaying my day pass - QR Code, I immediately approached Lower Joffre Lake within 5 minutes.
For morning time, the lake had a glowing reflection with a light yellow, green and gold coloring to the water. It wasn't turquoise blue, but the Middle and Upper Lakes are pristine blue!!
Now here's where the hiking and elevation come into play. For the Middle and Upper Lakes, you will be climbing hard for almost 3 - 4 kilometers. And that should take 2 - 2.5 hours in first arriving at Middle Lake.
Middle Lake was gorgeous. It is the prized centerfold piece to Joffre! It took my breath away! It was peaceful and colorfully blue.
I had this out of body moment where I felt like I was running around with my head cut off trying to photograph the best aspects of it!
Simply put, I was in awe! There's a clearing of trees and bushes beside the middle part of Middle Joffre Lake. Everyone who was hiking was now sitting down, eating lunch and enjoying the views.
I grabbed as many pics as I optimistically could before hiking 1 more kilometer to Upper Joffre Lake.
On the way to Upper Joffre Lake, you pass by a terrific waterfall called Holloway Falls. It's definitely worthy of a photo or video. Holloway Falls gushes down the mountainside without a hindrance. It's a beautiful thing to see in nature.
Now finally at Upper Joffre Lake, it is very picturesque with blue reflections illuminating the lake. I will admit, and I don't know why, but Middle Lake was just better and more colorful. Upper Joffre Lake was great, but I was on a natural high from the Middle Lake.
There are plenty of giant boulders to sit down on and enjoy the views at Upper Joffre. Again, hikers were resting after the difficult hike to get here.
What I did was hike around Upper Joffre Lake because...in morning time, the sun from the trail looked me straight in the face. So, I thought if I could reach the opposite side of the lake, I'd reap the rewards of having the sun at my back and poetically reflecting onto Upper Joffre.
For hiking around Upper Joffre, just follow the Campground Pathway around the lake and then the exploring is at your own accord, choose your own adventure and enjoy.
Best thing about the Campground Path (which, btw, is 1 kilometer long), is it steers you clear from the hectic crowds and people taking too many selfies and family photos.
At the other side of Upper Joffre Lake, I was able to climb on top of the rocks making my way towards a wonderful splashing waterfall off the side of a cliff! The moment certainly reminded me of one of Yosemite's grand waterfalls. I also noticed other adventurous hikers climbing to the "toe" of a glacier far in the distance.
Then finally, from this opposite side of Upper Joffre Lake, I was able to grab a panoramic perspective of the entire lake in one snapshot.
Only problem was that some clouds set in, and the lake was no longer colorful. Oh well, in that moment, I was humbled by the experience and felt ready to return back down the mountain.
Lastly, on the return hike I was able to capture any last-minute pictures I may have missed upon first starting out. But, when it's not sunny and the lakes aren't glistening, the aura and invincibility of Joffre Lakes dissipates. Just saying, lol, from my Pov.
The hike back down wasn't difficult only taking 90 minutes. When I finally returned to the trailhead, I had been gone for 7 hours or half the day.
In the end, I was grateful to have discovered Joffre Lakes Provincial Park on a whim through talking with random friendly hikers. This was a really memorable day and who doesn't love turquoise blue lakes!!!
