Lac Beauvert: Jasper Travel Guide (4.8★)

Green water, log lodge

The name tells you what to look for. Beauvert means “beautiful green” in French, and the lake is exactly that: a shallow, mineral-tinted bowl of jade water ringed by lodgepole pine. The low timber buildings of the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge line one shore, and a golf course runs along another.

It’s a quieter stop than the big-name lakes on the Maligne Road. Most Jasper itineraries skip it, so you can often walk a long stretch of shoreline with only a few other people.

Getting to Old Fort Point Road

From the Jasper townsite, head east across the Athabasca River toward Old Fort Point and follow the signs for the lodge. The drive takes about ten minutes. Cyclists use the same route, and it makes an easy ride from town.

• Address: Old Fort Point Rd, Jasper National Park, AB
• Park pass: required for anyone stopping inside Jasper National Park. Buy it at the Parks Canada visitor centre in town or online, where the current rates are posted.
• Nearby: Lac Annette and Lac Edith sit just to the north, and the Old Fort Point trailhead is on the road you came in on.

Walking the shoreline

A loop trail follows the water’s edge and the lodge’s paths, mostly flat and easy for any fitness level. Plan on 1–2 hours if you stop for photos. On still mornings the surface mirrors the surrounding Rockies, and the colour looks most saturated when the sun is high enough to light the shallows.

Google currently lists the lake as open 24 hours. Jasper is a designated Dark Sky Preserve, so a clear night here is a good way to see a properly black sky. Bring a headlamp. Conditions inside the park change with the seasons and after events like the 2024 wildfire, so check Parks Canada’s trail reports before you set out.

What to bring:

• A layer, since mountain lakeshores cool off fast once the sun drops
• Bear spray, which Parks Canada recommends on all Jasper trails
• Binoculars for the elk and waterbirds that use the meadows and shoreline

Sharing the lake with the lodge and the elk

Part of the shoreline passes through the hotel grounds, so keep to the marked paths and stay off the golf course. The lodge’s restaurants and patios are open to non-guests, which makes them an easy place for a coffee or a meal with a lake view. Ask at the front desk about seasonal boat or bike rentals rather than assuming they’re running.

Elk graze the lawns and edges here, especially in the morning and evening. Parks Canada asks you to keep at least 30 metres from elk and 100 metres from bears, and never to feed any animal. In autumn rut and spring calving the elk get aggressive, so give them even more room and put a car or a tree between you and them.

To have the place mostly to yourself, come at first light, before day visitors drive out from town, or after dinner on a long summer evening.