Hiking to all three Joffre Lakes can either be completed as a day hike, or you can purchase a permit to stay overnight at one of the camping sites.
The 5.7-mile roundtrip hike takes about 3 to 5 hours, depending on your pace, the number of rest stops, and if you want to snap photos while jumping in the lakes. The good news, you don’t have to go all the way up to the third lake to enjoy the beauty of the park, but I encourage it!
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Many visitors choose to turn around as the second hike, but the third lake is worth the hike. On average, the first lake takes about 5 minutes to reach from the parking lot, while the second lake takes 1.75 hours and the third lake 2.5 hours (one way).
LOWER JOFFRE LAKE TRAIL STATS
- Difficulty: Easy
- Distance: 0.2 km / 0.1 miles (roundtrip)
- Elevation gain: N/A
MIDDLE JOFFRE LAKE TRAIL STATS
- Difficulty: Intermediate
- Distance: 5.5 km / 3.43 miles (roundtrip)
- Elevation gain: 410 m / 1,348 ft
UPPER JOFFRE LAKE TRAIL STATS
- Difficulty: Intermediate
- Distance: 9.2 km / 5.72 miles (roundtrip)
- Elevation gain: 673m / 2,209 ft
If you are lucky enough to get an overnight permit for Joffre Lakes, you should take it. If not, you will be day hiking the lakes, which is still a fantastic experience. During your day hike, I highly suggest you bring the following:
- Go-to hiking boots are Columbia Newton Ridge or Merrell Moab’s
- A swim suit, the water is cold but you just need to take a dip, so quick dry hiking shorts are great
- Sunscreen, like Dermatone or Sunbum, that won’t destroy the water if you swim
- Sunglasses that are polarized, my favorite afforadable sunnies are Sunski and Goodr
- A camera or your phone
- Day Pack like the Big Agnes Impassible or the Osprey Sportlite
- Water bottle and filter like the Katadyn BeFree system
- Hiking poles, the Leki Khumbu Lite are my go-to poles for all hikes
- Snacks, on snacks, on snacks… looking for something different? Try Moon Fruit!
- A towel that is quick-dry and easy to use like a Nomadix