Rowe Lakes Trail

There were 3 Rowes that we took in on our first day of hiking in Waterton Lakes National Park - Rowe Meadow, Upper Rowe Lake and Lower Rowe Lake. It is also the first time we have seen horses, and not just the evidence of horses, on the hiking trail.

The main trail begins off the Akamina Parkway, a kind of Going-to-the-Sun Road that takes you to the trails that lead to the backcountry. We chose to head right up to Upper Rowe Lake and not take the little spur trail that would deliver us to Lower Rowe Lake until the way down. It was a moderate climb to Rowe Meadow, pictured above. One of our trail guidebooks says that this meadow, surrounded by amphitheater-like cliffs, is home to boisterous ground squirrels and to swarms of horse flies. We saw neither - regrettably the former; and thankfully the later.

From Rowe Meadow the trail climbed strenuously up the valley wall for 0.5 mile, then crested a rise and climbed onto a high shelf filled with subalpine larch. We then reached the north shore of Upper Rowe Lake. This tarn sits in a high, windswept basin. 

We walked along the shore of the lake until we found a spot that was protected from the wind that whistled across the lake. This is our lunch view with golden larches ringing a sort-of meadow.

The blunt summit of Mount Rowe rising above the south shore of Upper Rowe Lake.

After lunch, as we were exploring for the un-named sister lake of Upper Rowe Lake, we came upon this group resting their horses after the steep climb to Upper Rowe Lake - Barry & Wendy from Calgary, and Dee Barrus, the wrangler and owner of the horses. These were the horses that produced the need to "step around" on the trail. We had a brief visit and Wendy directed us to the sister lake which she said was disappearing.

We found it and it is indeed disappearing. Wendy said that when they were up here in the spring the water level covered the red rocks and reached the trees. 

Coming back down the trail, half-way to Rowe Meadow, we stopped to take this picture that shows the creek.

The cliffs surrounding the meadow.

On the way back we took the side trail to Lower Rowe Lake walled by the east ridge of Mount Rowe and dammed by a rockslide.

After 5 hours of hiking we arrived back at the trailhead just as Wendy and her party arrived. 

Hike Statistics:

Length - 9.2 miles

Elevation gain - 2,040 feet (229 floors on the Fitbit)

Duration - 5 hours, 10 minutes