Icefields Parkway, Alberta - September 20th, 2022
There are many scenic drives around the United States and Canada. However, in our opinion, the Icefields Parkway tops them all. Of course, scenic drives are much better when the weather cooperates, and we had sunshine during our whole drive down the parkway.
Tuesday we drove the Icefields Parkway from Jasper in Jasper National Park to Lake Louise in Banff National Park. The two national parks are adjacent to each other. The boundary between the two is at Sunwapta Pass, near the Athabasca Glacier along the Icefields Parkway.
The views from the parkway are simply stunning. Around every bend was another set of impressive mountains. They each had their own character. Some were like pointy pyramids. Others had flat, sheer walls of rock. Some were covered with trees while some were just bare rock and some had a mixture with layers of trees alternating with layers of rock. The closer we got to Athabasca Glacier and the Columbia Icefield, the more snow and ice were on the mountain peaks. There were mountain ridge lines with cornices of snow and ice that looked like they could be 50 feet tall or more.
Google Maps says the drive from Whistlers Campground in Jasper to Lake Louise Campground is two hours and 47 minutes. It took us nine hours. We stopped for three short hikes along the way along with pulling over for viewpoints, too many to count. Ann’s shutter finger was worn out by the time the day was done.
The first hike we did was Athabasca Falls. It took us about half an hour to complete the 0.8 mile trail with an elevation gain of only 98 feet. The falls are actually much closer to the parking lot than that, but the trail approaches the falls from one side of the river, then crosses a bridge to give you a few more different angles of the falls. Then it goes along a narrow canyon down below the falls to where the river calms down again. The falls are pretty impressive and the trail gives you a variety of ways to enjoy them.
The next hike was a little longer, Sunwapta Falls. This is another one where the falls are near the parking area. However, this trail goes on to another set of waterfalls, the Lower Sunwapta Falls. The trail in-between the two impressive waterfalls is through the woods, near the river so you can hear the water for most of the hike. Altogether we walked 2.3 miles with an elevation gain of 505 feet in one hour and 18 minutes.
Our last hike was at Athabasca Glacier. This was another really short one. From the parking lot, the trail goes up near the toe of the glacier. The park has the area of the glacier roped off. Only people on guided glacier hikes are allowed onto the glacier. Still, you get a pretty close view of the glacier. Along the trail and along the road to the parking area, there are markers indicating where the toe of the glacier used to be in previous years. We completed the 1 mile trail of 200 feet elevation gain in 30 minutes.
Thank goodness we started our drive early. We pulled out of Whistlers Campground around 8:15 am and arrived at Lake Louise around 5:15 pm. There was a long line of RV’s checking in at the same time. It took us 45 minutes to get through the line. We’re not sure why it moved so slowly. The campground was full, so everyone in line had a reservation. Welcome to Lake Louise.
We had heard how beautiful the Icefields Parkway was. Sometimes, setting the expectations high just leads to disappointment, but not this time. For us, the parkway lived up to all the hype.
Check out our related video: Icefields Parkway, Alberta
(Ann)