Sep
The best month overall
Colour still strong, air cold and clear, larches turning gold on the slopes above the valley, and noticeably fewer people on the boardwalk. If your dates are flexible, this is when to come.
Timing
The best time for a Maligne Lake cruise: June to October
The season is shorter than people expect and the difference between a July sailing and a September one is larger. The lake freezes for more than half the year, which means the best time for a Maligne Lake cruise is a choice between four months rather than twelve — and within them, between one sailing and another.
Quick answer
The best time for a Maligne Lake cruise is September, and the best sailing is the first of the day. The boats run from about the beginning of June to early October. July and August have the strongest colour and the biggest crowds; September keeps most of the colour, adds golden larches on the slopes, and empties out. Outside that window the lake is frozen and there is no boat at all.
Month by month
The season, start to finish
Four months of sailings, and they are not interchangeable.
Jul – Aug
Peak colour, peak crowds
The glacial melt is fastest so the water is at its most intense, every sailing runs, and the middle departures are full. Book ahead and take the first boat.
Jun
Early season, quiet and unpredictable
Sailings start as soon as the ice clears, usually early June. Fewer boats, far fewer people, and the colour is still building as the melt gets going. Best month for roadside bears.
Oct – May
Closed
The lake freezes and there is no Maligne Lake cruise at any price. The valley road stays open for part of the winter and Maligne Canyon becomes an ice walk instead.
Timing, at a glance
- Season
- June to early Octoberdepending on the ice
- Best month
- Septembercolour, larches and space
- Strongest water colour
- July and Augustfastest glacial melt
- Larches turn
- Mid-Septemberfor about two weeks
- Busiest
- July and Augustespecially the midday sailings
- Quietest
- June and late Septemberand cheapest to travel in
- Best sailing, any month
- The first of the daystillest water, emptiest boardwalk
- Lake elevation
- About 1,670 mso mornings are cold in every month
- Winter alternative
- Maligne Canyon ice walkfrom $65
- Book ahead in
- July and Augusta few days is usually enough
Why the first sailing
The one decision inside the season
Stiller water, an empty boardwalk, the wildlife hour on the road, and the weather has not turned yet.
Every sailing costs the same and they are not the same trip.
The water. Maligne Lake is long, straight and exposed, and wind builds through the day. Morning sailings routinely get glass; afternoon ones routinely do not, and the reflection at Spirit Island is most of the photograph.
The boardwalk. It comfortably holds one boatload. In July the midday sailings arrive close together and it holds two or three.
The road. You are driving up at wildlife hour rather than at ten, which is a free upgrade to the whole day.
And the weather. Mountain cloud and afternoon showers build later, so the best time for a Maligne Lake cruise on any given day is also the most reliable one.
If you have one flexible fortnight in the year, make it the second half of September: the larches turn, the crowds have gone, and the lake has not frozen yet.
Getting the photograph→Book direct
Trips through the season
Three that run all summer, and the canyon trip that comes into its own when the lake is frozen.
Our top pick1,211 reviews
90 minJasper National Park: Maligne Lake Cruise With Guide
★ 4.7 · 1,211 reviews
- Our top pick: the cruise itself, with a guide
- Ninety minutes to Spirit Island and back
- 1,211 reviews at 4.7
- Free cancellation
$85$0.94 / hour
Check availability→ 
Wildlife + cruise674 reviews
6 hJasper: Wildlife and Sightseeing Tour with Maligne Cruise
★ 4.8 · 674 reviews
- The best-evidenced full day on this page
- Six hours of wildlife and sightseeing with the cruise
- 674 reviews at 4.8
- Free cancellation
$169$0.47 / hour
Check availability→ 
Valley + cruiseSpirit Island
6 hJasper: Maligne Valley Wildlife & Spirit Island Cruise
★ 4.7 · 253 reviews
- The Maligne Valley and the cruise, together
- Six hours: wildlife, the canyon and Spirit Island
- 253 reviews at 4.7
- Free cancellation
$140$0.39 / hour
Check availability→ 
Maligne Canyon3 hours
3 hJasper: Maligne Valley And Pleckatis Canyon Tour
★ 4.7 · 5 reviews
- Maligne Canyon on foot, three hours
- The gorge the lake drains into — frozen in winter
- Rated 4.7
- Small group
$65$0.36 / hour
Check availability→ Common questions
Timing, answered plainly
When is the best time for a Maligne Lake cruise?
September, and the first sailing of the day. Colour is still strong, the larches turn, and the boardwalk is far emptier than in July.
When does the cruise season start and end?
Roughly the beginning of June to early October, depending on when the ice clears and returns.
Can you do the cruise in winter?
No. The lake freezes and there is no sailing. Maligne Canyon becomes a guided ice walk instead.
When is the water most turquoise?
July and August, when the glacial melt is fastest and the rock flour densest.
What time of day should I book?
The first sailing, in every month. Stiller water, an emptier boardwalk and the wildlife hour on the drive up.
How far ahead should I book in summer?
A few days in July and August. The early sailings go first.
Go deeper
More on Maligne Lake and Jasper
Cost
What it costs
From $85 for the boat, and what the full days add.
The verdictWhich trip is best
The cruise alone, or a day with it in the middle.
Spirit IslandSpirit Island
Fourteen kilometres up the lake, and no road or trail to it.
BookingTickets and booking
Sailing times, how far ahead to book, and what sells out.
Getting thereGetting there from Jasper
Forty-eight kilometres up the Maligne Valley, and no bus.
Ninety minutesHow long it takes
Ninety minutes on the water, and half a day in total.
