Town of Banff

Swimming

In addition to the year-round swimming opportunities mentioned in our pages featuring  Hotsprings and Sports Activities, there are some local swimming spots where you can relax or play in the water when it warms up at the height of summer.

Cascade Ponds

The Cascade Ponds site is a local favourite, especially for family-and-friends barbeques on summer evenings and weekends. The Cascade Ponds swimming area includes:

• public washrooms
  
• covered picnic shelter with wood stove
  
• outdoor picnic tables with firepits
• walking trails
• beach area

The shallow water and expansive surrounding grassy areas make this a great area for families with young children to spend time.

Johnson Lake

This lake is larger and deeper than Cascade Ponds. The Johnson Lake recreation area includes:

• outhouse facilities
• outdoor picnic tables
• a hiking trail around the lake
• fishing
• sandy beach area
• a rope swing located on the opposite side of the lake

The extensive sandy beach area and shallow wading area makes this another favourite spot for family outings. It is often crowded on hot summer days in July and August.

Words of caution: swimming in these lakes is unsupervised, so visitors swim at their own risk.

Most other lakes in Banff National Park are glacier-fed, and thus too cold for swimming, unless you are a dedicated polar-bear swimmer.