There are few places that rival the beauty of a glacier lake in Banff, Alberta. But this lake has more than rocks hidden beneath its waters.
Lake Minnewanka is an incredible year-round destination in the Rockies. In the summertime, you’ll be treated to incredibly blue water. In the winter, it makes for one of the more incredible skating rinks in the country. But did you know there’s a ghost town lurking just below the surface?
A longstanding fixture in the lives of the Stoney people, Lake Minnewanka has been a place to hunt for centuries. But it’s also attracted its fair share of chilling stories.
According to Parks Canada, this Alberta lake derives its moniker from the Stoney people’s name. They called it “Minn-waki” or “Lake of the Spirits.” The lake was both respected and feared due to the spirits believed to reside along its waters. It was even referred to as the Devil’s Lake by the region’s Early Europeans.
Spooky… and that’s before the ghost town!
Minnewanka Landing
The townsite of Minnewanka Landing was established near the shores of Lake Minnewanka in the 1880s.
“In 1886, the ‘Beach House’, a log hotel, was built along the original shores of Lake Minnewanka. By 1912, a summer village called Minnewanka Landing was established,” explains the Parks Canada website.
“The townsite consisted of four avenues and three streets. There were hotels, wharves, restaurants, and sailing tours aboard two cruise boats.”
It was a popular destination for those looking to escape the nearby city, and the town became a bustling summer destination.
However, the area’s landscape started to change with the construction of a new dam—part of a Calgary Power Co. hydroelectric plant operation being set up downriver. According to the Smithsonian, the result raised the lake’s water levels, which flooded a good portion of Minnewanka Landing.
While it persisted for a while longer, the town finally met its end in 1941 with the building of a new dam. This raised the reservoir’s waters by nearly 30 metres, swallowing everything in its wake.
What’s left of the townsite now can only be found by scuba divers brave enough to venture into the deep.
Visiting the Lake
Curious to see the underwater ghost town for yourself? Parks Canada has designated several dive sites throughout the lake, but they can only be explored by those who are scuba-certified.
Thanks to Lake Minnewanka’s glacier-fed, ice-cold waters, many of the original structures remain intact. This includes house and hotel foundations, wharves, an oven, a chimney, a cellar, bridge pilings, and sidewalks.
Even if you don’t have a wetsuit, this Alberta lake is a stunning place to visit year-round. Paddle along the serene waters or admire the view from the shore. In the wintertime, you can even skate across the frozen surface.
It’s such a beautiful spot, it’s hard to imagine that the lake ever had such a haunting reputation in local folklore. But who knows? Maybe the reason Minnewanka Landing couldn’t last is that it was never meant to be there in the first place.
You’ll have to visit for yourself and decide.
Where: Improvement District No. 9, AB
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Alicia Lyons
Branded Content Writer
Alicia is a storyteller who chased the sun all the way to Calgary and decided to stay. When she’s not crafting killer content, she can be found stumbling along nature trails, curling under a fuzzy blanket with a good book, or finding any excuse to eat.
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