The Taelemans´ Blog

Peyto Lake is another glacier-fed lake located in Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies.

Before the melting of the glaciers which starts early June, the lake is dark blue. During the summer, meltwater flows into the lake which is loaded with finely ground particles of rock debris known as rock flour. These particles reflect the blue-green sector of the light spectrum resulting in the unique turquoise color of the lake.

If you look at the left side of the lake, you can see where the glacier used to be a couple of hundreds of years ago. Today, the glacier is so far retreated (losing 70% of its mass since it was first researched) that you can barely see the glacier to the far left of the picture.

Peyto Lake Panorama | Location on map