After spending 4 days in Banff in early September 2023, we took the Icefield Parkway to Jasper. This was part of a larger trip, beginning with Glacier National Park in Montana. We got to do the drive twice, once traveling up to Jasper and again on our way back to Calgary where we would conclude our trip and fly home. This afforded us two opportunities to catch some of the sites, seeing it both northbound & southbound under vastly different weather conditions. We consolidated this into a single post as if we were making a single, northbound trip. We didn’t see everything, but we got to see a lot!
Planning Tips
From end to end, the Icefield Parkway is about a 2 1/2 hour drive. That’s with no stops, which sort of defeats the whole point! We spent 4 hours on the northbound trip, and 7 hours on the southbound (that includes around 2.5 hours for the Athabasca Glacier & Skywalk tours)
The travel time references are from the start of the Icefield Parkway; if you’re starting in Banff add 45 minutes
You’ll need a valid park pass in your vehicle
As always, factor in the time of day when considering stopping at certain attractions if parking and foot traffic is a concern for you
Lastly, we used the GuideAlong app; essentially like using the audible self guided tours at museums. It tracked your position via GPS and would provide targeted historical and geological commentary, as well as alert you when you are coming up on common attractions. John was dubious, but ended up really enjoyed having it along for the ride
Bow Lake
About 25 minutes into the Icefield Parkway, you’ll come to the Bow Lake Viewpoint. This was actually our last stop, as it was fogged in the morning we were headed northbound.
It was early afternoon when we visited and parking was pretty tight with a decent volume of foot traffic. There is a viewpoint just off the road, but we opted to go down to the lake and get some pics.
There is cute lodge there and some food options, but we did not sample anything.
Views on the Bow Lake…
From the roadside viewpoint
On the lakeshore, near the lodge
Bow Lake shoreline
Bow Lake shoreline
Peyto Lake
Less than 10 minutes north of Bow Lake, is Peyto Lake. We got here in the early afternoon and it was verybusy. We parked in an open spot outside the Upper Viewpoint parking lot, as the lot itself was packed. The trail from the parking lot is about a half a mile/600 meters with decent stretches of incline.
Pretty heavy crowds along the trail and at the view point, with a lot of jockeying to try to get pics without people in the way. That said, it was beautiful on that gorgeous afternoon and we like to imagine this was some recompense for us not being able to see Lake Louise from the Beehive due to weather. (refer to the end of our Banff post!)
Upper Peyto Lake Viewpoint
Taken just below the viewpoint, away from the crowd
Waterfowl Lake
The Waterfowl Lake viewpoint is about 15 minutes north of Peyto Lake. We actually stopped here both times. We clambered down beside the lake for pics. You can get a sense of the changing view based on lighting and weather conditions.
8:30am, with waterfowl! The heavy fog from early this morning was clearing here
1:30pm, beautiful sunny day
Mistaya Canyon
Mistaya Canyon is 10 minutes north of the Waterfowl Lake viewpoint. We got here at about 9am. Parking is right on the parkway but the canyon it’s a short hike from there; .7mi/1.2km round trip.
There is a bridge you can cross to get to the other side and can get right up on the water – just watch your step!
After a foggy morning start, we are happy to see something!
John off in the distance for scale
Water & Mountains is going to be a recurring theme
North Sasketchewan River
On the Icefield Parkway, you’re going to want to just random photos because the views are incredible. Both of the photos below are of the North Sasketchawan River, near where it merges with the Alexandra River
South of the merge with Alexandra River
North of (before) jointing with the Alexandra River
Parker Ridge Viewpoint
35 Minutes north of Mistaya Canyon, there is another hiking opportunity at Parker Ridge. Right alongside the parkway, it offers a 4 miles/6.5km out and back hike that boasts a 1000ft/330m elevation gain. We understand it provides some excellent glacier views. We briefly considered doing it but it was so early in our northbound trip and we didn’t want to put that time commitment into it. We settled for a photo of a distant glacier and moved on.
Athabasca Glacier
About 10 minutes north of Parker Ridge, Athabasca Glacier is it’s own thing. We had already booked a trip onto the glacier on our return trip, so we weren’t planning on doing more than driving by on the way up.
However, it turned out to be such a dominating view that we had to get some pics, despite the weather taking a turn with high winds and cold rain.
The glacier visit on the return trip was memorable.
Athabasca GlacierThere was a promise in this rainbow!
Visiting the Athabasca Glacier
We booked the Columbia Icefield Adventure through Banff Jasper Collections, which would include a trip out onto the glacier and then access to the Skywalk just up the road (they are a package deal). This was 10am on our last day and we were blessed with great weather.
The logistics for this amounts to all the other participants milling about in the visitor center until they start funneling everyone down a hallway to several large passenger buses. Once on the bus, it takes you across the street to transition to the monsters that go out on the ice. From there, it is a short drive out to the glacier where you have a limited area to explore (it’s roped off). There was glacial melt in some areas we could get out and drink (bring an empty bottle!). They give you about 30 minutes out there, which is more than enough time. Then it’s back to the the passenger buses, which will take you down to the Skywalk.
The land crawler looking thing that takes you out on the ice
Starting the drive up
Glacial Lake at the toe of the glacier; there is a hike option down there
The glacier up close
We thought it would be colder out on the glacier, but in the full sun it was pretty warm
On the Skywalk
Once you are dropped off at the Skywalk, you are free to stay as long as you like. When you’re ready to head back to the visitor center you just line up for the next available bus, which rolls through every ~15 minutes
The Skywalk boasts a lot of museum type displays regarding fossils and the natural history. This is totally John’s type of thing but definitely not Corinne’s. In this instance, we were aligned on just experiencing the Skywalk and then getting back to our car and back on the road as quickly as possible.
Corrine is not a fan of heights, so it took a moment to get out there
John playing it cool
By the time we got out here, it was just about noon, and things are a bit sun washed in pictures, but it was an excellent view
To give you some sense of the experience
John is low key obsessed with Ravens, so had to get some close ups of this guy
First wildlife sighting!
We saw our first wildlife just north of Athabasca Glacier, with some bighorn sheep trimming the roadside bushes. Putting the camera zoom lens to work, so photos were little grainy.
We would end up seeing so much more wildlife in our time in Jasper.
Mind those curves!
Just north of the Skywalk, we came across this fresh accident. The driver was fine and waved us on…not sure if he still has that job though!
They were still doing recovery work over 2 hours later. Fortunately, this was behind us as we were heading south from here.
Tangle Creek Falls
A very short distance north of the Skywalk is Tangle Creek Falls. You can see this easily from the road but it’s so close to it that you’ll just drive by.
There is a small parking area on the other side of the road and we hopped out to grab a picture
Sunwapta River
Moving north, the Sunwapta River takes over as our river accompaniment. Again, this is us just stopping to capture the view as opposed to some specific stop or overlook.
Sunwapta River Falls
About 40 minutes north of Athabasca Glacier is Sunwapta Falls. There is a lodging right at the entrance and then you make a short drive behind it to get to a parking lot and access to the falls. It was about 11am when we arrived here, and it was packed! Probably our most challenging time getting into a spot and then even getting out, as you had people in RV’s making some questionable parking decisions. We found ourselves stuck for few minutes waiting for people to sort themselves out before we could get out of there!
Overall a quick stop. This was actually our last stop on our northbound trip, as the parking lot madness made us want to skip trying to get into anything else that day.
Athabasca River
Shortly after Sunwapta Falls, the Athabasca River takes over and would continue to be our companion up to Jasper and beyond.
Athabasca River Falls
About 20 minutes north of Supwapta falls (and now less than 30 minutes south of Jasper) is the Athabasca River Falls. Based on our experience at Sunwapta River Falls we made a point to hit this on our return trip south, a few days later at about 8am.
The Falls are right off the road and very easy to access. There is a bridgeway that allows you to get to the other side and some fairly close over looks.
Horseshoe Lake
A short 5 minute drive north of Athabasca River Falls is Horseshoe Lake. It’s a short hike from the parking lot, maybe 1/2 mile/800 meters round trip. We got here around 7:45am and we were only sharing it with maybe 4-6 other people.
Very pretty! Most of the time spent here was just getting to the lake from the parking lot.
Valley of the Five Lakes
About 15 minutes north of Horseshoe lake, is Valley of the Five Lakes. This would be the northern-most point on the Icefield Parkway that we visited. However, it is a 3 mile/4.8km hike, with a decent bit of a climb up/down when you get to the lake loop. So, not really something you’re just going to pull-off and knock out while trying to do the length of the parkway (or maybe it is, you do you). We actually visited here the morning of our last day in Jasper National Park. We’ll go into more detail on this on that post, but since it’s on the Icefield Parkway, wanted to add it here. From here, you’re only 15 minutes from Jasper.
Second Lake
First Lake
The Icefield Parkway is a must do and an experience in it’s own right! It was one of the most amazing experiences of our whole trip!
Some takeaways…
We really felt like spreading this across as a multi-day experience was the way to go; some degree of ‘weather insurance’, as well as just not having to feel pressured to see everything in a single go
Even if you’re planning on staying in Banff and not traveling to Jasper, specific destinations are accessible as part of an out and back day trip – just plan accordingly!
