Chester Lake Trail [CLOSED]

nice and well marked trail for a hike under the shades of the trees to reach a nice lake. Elevation is maintained throughout the hike. Fishermen activity is frequent but not too busy.

Nice trail and views. The trail was open today but we did see a Grizzly by the lake so we turned around. It’s a steady incline for the first part and then it levels off once you get closer to the lake.

This trail is open (July 18) Steady incline for most of the way. Incredible views as you get closer to the lake. Make sure to visit the Elephant Rocks!

Nice for snowshoeing during winter.

Did this trail over a week ago. Great trail! Worth having GPS even if it’s just a phone with a google maps download of the area. Lots of unmarked turn offs and trail intersections. The trail is decently easy, I would go so far as to mark it easy instead of moderate. If you don’t have any knee/ankle issue or anything of that nature, you don’t really need hiking boots for this trail. Always good to have them, but if you don’t, this is a good trail to try. Not much to speak of in terms of views until you get to the lake. The trail is pretty heavily forested. The lake is beautiful though, with lots of space to enjoy the lake and views. Very much worth the hike up. Also an outhouse just before the lake! Good place to go fishing. Saw a lot of catches!

Note this trail is closed at the moment due to a grizzly bear in the area. Keep the bear (and yourself) safe by respecting the closure. https://albertaparks.ca/parks/kananaskis/peter-lougheed-pp/advisories/?type=Bear Closure&name=Chester Lake Trail and Area&p=20200710#47930

We did this hike yesterday. Mostly uphill until you get to the lake. Nothing too difficult. Trail is great. Beautiful destination.

This trail is definitely on the easier side of “moderate”. A little bit of snow, some mud, pretty flowers in the meadows along the trail. Recommend doing the scramble by the lake. Overall, it’s a pretty easy hike for pretty views - nothing spectacular.

2020/07/03 gorgeous. Steady uphill but nothing absurd. Strongly recommend when on the back side of the lake scrambling up the rocks to the highest point. There is another peak on the backside to see.

Did this trail midweek back in early November. Beautiful but already very snow covered. Was greeted by a moose licking the salt off the cars in the parking lot to wrap it up.

Sunny. August, 2006.

Fantastic mountain views in winter. Snowshoes are needed.

The parking lot is closed. Chester closed until June 29 https://www.albertaparks.ca/parks/kananaskis/kananaskis-country/advisories-public-safety/trail-reports/peter-lougheed/chester-lake-winter/ Just across the Highway from Chester Lake Trail, skied the French Haig Robertson Traverse on May 16 which includes skiing from Burstall Lakes to the Burstall Trailhead (parking lot is open). There was tons of snow! Skis or snowshoes were critical, the trail is analogous to Chester Lake Trail. Also, keep in mind, the snow might not support you in hiking boots on the way back after the days warmth even if it supported you on the way out in the morning. Feel free to follow me on IG for local outdoor shenanigans and conditions www.instagram.com/kylescoronalife

Trail is closed until June 29th :)

Very nice trail. Doable climb at the beginning. Had winter/ hiking boots and 3 kids and we all managed the steep parts without spikes or snowshoes. Kids brought a sled for the way down, which made the decent extremely fun for them. Tremendous setting at the top. The snowshoe route was 8km total distance.

We hiked this trail on March 22. It seemed like there were lots of other people who had the idea to hike this weekend, the large parking lot was 3/4 full but the trail didn’t feel busy at all. Maybe they were on the skiing trail? There’s lots of snow on the trail. Many people had snowshoes but we decided to hike in boots and didn’t have trouble at all. We were to happy to find it was just snowy and not icy, but some steeper sections felt slippery. The trail itself is well packed but all around you is deeper fluffy snow. The trail itself is a steady but not too steep climb that eventually opens to a lake an beautiful mountains. We continued just past the lake and found the elephant rocks. They were huge boulders with majestic puffs of snow sculpted on top, very fun to visit. We took our time exploring and made the round trip in just over 3 hours; lots of photo breaks. We were also impressed with the snowshoe trail signage. Super easy to follow. We can’t wait to come back and see this spot in the summer!

Beautiful mountain views in between heavily wooded stretches. Most of the elevation gain is in one area in the beginning and then it mostly levels out. Snowshoes not required as long as you go a bit later in the morning/day when it has already been hiked a few times by other groups.

Great hike. You definitely need snowshoes If you want to make it to the lake but the rest of the trail is very packed and could be done with crampons. It was very snowy when we went so snowshoes definitely helped. Can’t wait to go back in the summer. First few km are a pretty steep don’t forget to bring water!

Everything is lovely as always but you 100% need snowshoes if you want to make it to the lake.

Well-packed trail until close to the top. We only had crampons so had to turn back. Would recommended snowshoes for the top bit. Very fun!

Most Excellent Day. Our third day out with snowshoes and what a blast. Taking designated SnSh trail is a workout at the beginning but well worth it approaching the lake. Great day with my wife.

Snow shoes needed at this seasons. Lovely, and planned come back during summer.

Perfect conditions turned a great trail into a spectacular snowshoeing experience! The lower parts of the trail are narrow and well packed but once you get to the meadows things open up and provide plenty of "off-roading" opportunities.

Did the snowshoe trail today and it was great! Didn't need snowshoes but crampons would definitely be recommend. Trail is really nice and packed down. It was somewhat windy once we got to the lake, and you can't go fully around the lake right now. This was a great hike though!

Beautiful sunny day with no wind! Lots of snow but the trail was well packed down all the way, half our group used cramp ons and half used snow shoes- both worked well! Took a couple hours getting up to the meadow, stopping here and there for photos, first couple km are uphill but not crazy strenuous. After getting to the clearing we opted to stop for lunch in the nice open sunny area rather than heading right to the lake as it was quite shaded and much colder. Lots of cars in the parking lot (~25) but surprisingly we didn’t run into very many people- most were cross country skiers. I did this hike in the summer and this time mid winter, both were incredible and quite a different perspective/ experience! Highly recommend!