Moraine Lake, Glacial lake in Banff National Park, Canada
This glacial lake sits within Banff National Park, surrounded by ten peaks of the Valley of the Ten Peaks at an elevation of 1884 meters in the Canadian Rockies. The water glows turquoise and is fed by meltwater streams carrying fine rock flour.
A European mountaineer reached the lakeshore in 1899 and reported the unusual color of the water. Between 1969 and 1979, this panorama appeared on the reverse of Canadian twenty-dollar banknotes.
The lake takes its name from the rock debris that dams its outflow, though the pile was long taken for a glacial moraine. The Rockpile Trail, about 300 metres with 24 metres of climb, leads up that debris; from the top the Ten Peaks stand behind the water, a view printed on Canada's 1969 and 1979 twenty-dollar notes.
Since 2023, Parks Canada has closed the access road to personal vehicles year-round; visitors arrive by Park shuttle, public transit or commercial operator, or walk and cycle the 10 km road one-way. People with disabilities holding a permit are exempt. The road is open only in the June–September summer season.
The lake sits in the Valley of the Ten Peaks, and the view from the top of the Rockpile Trail is known as the "Twenty Dollar View" because Moraine Lake appeared on the reverse of the 1969 and 1979 Canadian twenty-dollar bills. The same image later served as a Windows 10 login screen background and an Android preview picture.
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