11 Views That Make Icefields Parkway The Most Beautiful Drive in Alberta

A Stunning and Stark Wintery Pass in Canada

In Western Canada, dancing across the borders of the Alberta and British Columbia provinces is something not out of place in the Great White North: ice. But the Canadian Rockies also holds a wonder that people who don’t shop at REI can experience: the Icefields Parkway. It’s a roadway journey of about 125 miles between Jasper National Park and Banff National Park, with enormous peaks, “hanging valleys,” waterfalls, and even some

Here are eleven points of interest along the parkway, all of which will provide a breathtaking view of this wondrous polar wonderland.

Icefields Parkway, Defining Icefield for Reference

The as separate from icecaps. An icefield has mountains and other topography gathering up through the ice where the icecap caps everything. Icefields also influence where the ice can and can’t go. This parkway indeed has numerous majestic peaks to view along the way, forcing the grinding glacier below to negotiate.

(Further, they’re both separate from ice sheets. These are similar geographic entities over 19,035 square miles.)

Steering Into It, Drive the Icefields Parkway in One Day or Make it a Vacation

At , this northerly cruise along Highway 93 can be done in a single day. And, for some go-go U.S. citizens, that might be all we need. The view will indeed be peaceful but not dull. And just ask almost anyone from outside the U.S., and they will confirm it: people in the States love our cars.

The Journey Starts (or Ends) at the Electric-Aquamarine Lake Louise

At Banff National Park, Lake Louise glows sky blue like the famous turquoise medallions from the American Southwest. This lake along the Icefields Parkway is hugged by hearty pines, a long rocky beach, and a tiny bit of sandbar. Lake Louise sits in a village of the same name within the Banff National Park, right on the border of British Columbia.

There’s a 900-foot-high Free-Standing Walkway Over the Vast Sub-Arctic Wonderland

A walkway clearer than an undisturbed arctic lake is jutting out in a half-oval nearly 1,000 feet off the rocky ground. The Columbia Icefield Discovery Centre walkway is a glass-floored opportunity for a bird’s eye view. For a moment in time, the viewer gets to peek at these national parks as a bird, like the spring blackbird or , might take it in.

Three Oceans in One Place: Snow Dome

Canadian writer Douglas Whiteway and author Barbara Huck wrote . In this volume, they note how meltwater flowing off Snow Dome can go to one of three oceans. This beats out the U.S.’ Two Ocean’s Pass.

Snow Dome, even if viewed from afar, is a fascinating continental crossroads for some rivers in North America.

Athabasca Glacier Along the Icefields Parkway Is North America’s Most Visited Glacier

According to , a highly-reviewed Tripadvisor train touring agency, Athabasca is indeed the continent’s top glacier for visits. It might not sound earth-shattering (though glaciers are literally “earth-shattering”), but they also say that the Icefields Parkway has over 100 glaciers on its route. So the number is saying something about the view.

The internet has many claims about how thick the ice is here. as 365 meters (or just short of a quarter-mile).

Once in a Lifetime, Water Flowing Underground

It won’t be something that can be viewed directly, but it’s still surprising. on the Athabasca Glacier and the Saskatchewan Glacier, there is a network of flowing rivers just below the surface! But above ground, the Athabasca River is also quite impressive. The University of Athabasca claims it covers by kilometers!

Columbia Icefields is the Largest Outside the Arctic

Most sources put it at , and the . The Columbia Icefields can be surveyed by visitors from the aforementioned glass-floor walkway looping out over the thousand-foot cliff at the Columbia Icefield Discovery Centre. BBC places this visitor center—that is, the center—at the halfway point for the Icefield Parkway

Rustic As All Get Out and a Very Sobering Way to Get Clean

in Banff National Park, says on its HiHostel’s listing page, “no electricity & no running water.”

That, indeed, is rustic.

At least one traveler has noted there is an option for those who just need to wash off: guarded by a giant boulder is a glacial current of running water that will undoubtedly revive any weary traveler. The view will become a lot clearer after that.

There’s a Century Tea House by Chateau Lake Louise

, the Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House has some fladry, al fresco dining, and some classic timber trim.

But it doesn’t have electricity.

The daughter of the last owner still runs it, . It’s light fare, but for having to fly in the supplies by helicopter or carry it up by backpack,

(As cell service is spotty and there are no computers, cash is preferred!)

And apparently, around Lake Louise.

In Some Places, They Actually Drive On the Ice

If traveling with a boy under ten years old, this will get their attention. This is something they will want to view.

In a giant, six-wheeled vehicle that looks like some modified earth-mover, out onto parts of the ice.

It’s unclear if these armored-personnel-carrier-looking Ice Explorers around Banff National Park have a mini Hot Wheels-style souvenir. But they definitely should, and it would sell.

A Wild and Free Place

Sometimes, nature lets people have it their way: on wheels, in a heated car, on a paved road. It’s no less natural, and the Icefields Parkway is one great example. Even for those who don’t park in a driveway, this is truly a great place to drive on a parkway.