Lake O'Hara Camping: The 30-Site Campground, Its Bus and the Hut Lottery

What you book, and the bus that comes with it

You reserve a campsite per night on the Parks Canada Reservation Service. Parks Canada says all overnight camping reservations at Lake O'Hara are offered on the launch day, online or by phone. Its terms add that a Lake O'Hara campground reservation also carries the fees for the required round-trip bus, so the bus seat is part of the campsite booking, not a separate draw.

Campers meet at the bus staging area at the Lake O'Hara parking lot at least 20 minutes before departure. The lot is 12 km (7.5 mi) west of Lake Louise and 13 km (8.1 mi) east of Field. Parks Canada says the bus will not wait and there are no seats on other buses. Miss your bus without telling the Lake O'Hara office and you are a no-show: your campground reservation goes back into the inventory.

Site rules that shape the trip

Tent pads are 2.5 m by 2.5 m, sized for small backpacking tents. Each person may bring one large bag (25 kg and 97 cm at most) or two small bags. Hard-sided coolers, storage bins, plastic bags and loose items are not allowed on the bus, and Parks Canada asks you to leave instruments, chairs and hammocks behind. Children aged 1 to 16 count in the reservation. Pets are not allowed on the bus or at the campground.

Bear-aware rules apply to cooking and to storing food and garbage. Each site gets one medium food locker (60 cm deep, 50 cm high, 60 cm wide), and you may bring a padlock. The campground has two cooking shelters, one fire pit, outhouses, firewood, grey water disposal and treated well water that is not always on early and late in the season. Bring a backpacking stove: Parks Canada says the wood stoves and fire pit are best for heat.

Fees and cancelling

The backcountry fee is CA$15.00 per person per night, the same in Banff, Jasper, Kootenay and Yoho. The reservation fee is CA$11.50 online or CA$13.50 by phone, charged once per stay and not refundable. The bus fare is added to the booking, and the park entry pass is separate (CA$12.25 per adult per day, free for youth 17 and under).

Lake O'Hara runs on earlier deadlines than the rest of the backcountry. You can book until 3 pm the day before arrival, and change or cancel until 3:30 pm the day before, not 2 pm on arrival day. Cancel at least 3 days ahead and you get everything back except the reservation fee and a CA$11.50 online (CA$13.50 phone) cancellation fee. Cancel later, before that 3:30 pm cut-off, and you also lose the first night's fee.

The hut, the lodge and the day-use draw

Parks Canada lists four ways to visit. The Elizabeth Parker Hut is open year round and is booked with the Alpine Club of Canada, not Parks Canada. Because of demand, its summer bookings are made by lottery the previous fall. Lake O'Hara Lodge is on the lakeshore and is booked with the lodge.

Day visitors apply to a random draw for the day-use bus. In 2026 applications ran from 8 am March 2 to 11:59 pm March 23 MDT, at CA$10 per application, not refundable. Seats the draw leaves go on standard sale once it is complete. Going by past years, that open sale usually opens around April 12 to May 1. Day-use bookings close at 3:30 pm the day before the bus.

What PermitSnag does here

Each permit page says whether you can set a PermitSnag alert for it, and links to the agency that sells it.

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