There are longer roads in Canada and there are wilder ones, but few pack as much into a single day as the Icefields Parkway. Highway 93 North runs 232 kilometres from the Lake Louise junction, just up the Trans-Canada from Banff, to the town of Jasper, and for almost every one of those kilometres it stays inside a national park. We have driven it in June with the passes still half buried and in late September with the larches turning, and both times we came away with the same feeling: this is a road that rewards slowing down.
Without stops, the drive takes about three and a half hours. With stops, which is the whole point, plan on a full day, and consider breaking it into two if you can find a bed at the halfway point. What follows is the way we like to do it, heading north from Banff.
Before you leave Banff or Lake Louise
Three practical things matter more than anything else on this route. The first is fuel. There is no service station on the parkway itself apart from two seasonal stops, one near the North Saskatchewan River about 80 kilometres in and one at the Columbia Icefield, and both keep limited hours and close for the winter. Fill up in Banff, Lake Louise or Jasper and treat the tank as your safety margin.
The second is the park pass. The parkway lies within Banff and Jasper national parks, and a valid Parks Canada pass is required for every vehicle, whether a daily pass or an annual one. Wardens do check at the Lake Louise gate, and the pass must be displayed on the dashboard.
The third is connectivity. Mobile coverage disappears a few kilometres from either end and does not return. Download your maps, tell someone your plan, and carry water and snacks. In winter the road is open but not maintained overnight, and it closes at short notice for avalanche control; from November to April, winter tires or chains are mandatory.
Bow Lake and the climb to Bow Summit
About 35 kilometres north of Lake Louise the road curves alongside Bow Lake, a broad sheet of glacial water backed by the Crowfoot Glacier and the Wapta Icefield. The lakeshore is a five minute walk from the parking area, and on a calm morning the reflection of the peaks is as clean as any photograph you have seen. This is also where the Bow River begins its long run east to Calgary and beyond.
From the lake the highway climbs to Bow Summit, at 2,088 metres the highest point on the parkway and the highest paved pass in the national parks. The air is noticeably cooler here, and snow can linger into July. The summit is the trailhead for the walk to Peyto Lake.
Peyto Lake: the colour that stops traffic
The paved path from the upper parking lot to the Peyto Lake viewpoint is about 1.5 kilometres return and gains roughly 100 metres, which makes it manageable for most walkers with a bit of patience. What waits at the top is the most photographed view in the Rockies, a lake shaped like a fox’s head glowing an improbable turquoise. The colour comes from rock flour, fine glacial sediment suspended in the water, and it is at its most intense from late June through August when the melt is strongest.
The viewpoint gets crowded by mid morning in summer. Arrive before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m. and you will share it with a handful of people instead of a few hundred.
The Columbia Icefield and the Athabasca Glacier
Roughly 127 kilometres from Lake Louise the valley opens onto the Columbia Icefield, the largest icefield in the Rocky Mountains at around 200 square kilometres. Its most accessible tongue, the Athabasca Glacier, comes down almost to the road. A short unpaved trail from the roadside parking area leads to the toe of the ice, passing marker posts that show where the glacier ended in past decades. The retreat is sobering: the ice has pulled back more than 1.5 kilometres since the late 1800s and continues to thin every year.
A few rules keep this stop safe. Stay behind the ropes at the glacier’s edge. The ice hides crevasses under thin snow bridges, and people have died falling into them within sight of the parking lot. Bring a warm layer even in August; the wind off the ice can drop the felt temperature by ten degrees. Guided walks and vehicle tours onto the glacier exist, but the roadside view and the toe trail are free with your park pass.
Sunwapta Falls and Athabasca Falls
North of the icefield the road follows the Sunwapta River through a valley where bighorn sheep and mountain goats are regularly seen licking minerals from the roadside cliffs. Slow down and stay in your vehicle if animals are on the shoulder; a traffic jam of stopped cars is the most common hazard on this stretch.
Sunwapta Falls, about 55 kilometres south of Jasper, is a short detour from the highway. The upper falls are a two minute walk from the parking area, where the river splits around a small island before dropping into a narrow limestone gorge. A 1.3 kilometre trail continues to the quieter lower falls.
Athabasca Falls, roughly 30 kilometres from Jasper, is bigger, louder and busier. The Athabasca River is squeezed through a slot of hard quartzite and the drop is only about 23 metres, but the volume of water is enormous. Paved paths and bridges let you see it from several angles in twenty minutes.
Timing, seasons and a few honest notes
Our shortlist of what to know before setting out:
- Best months: late June to mid September for open trails and full services; late September for colour and quieter viewpoints.
- Speed limit: 90 km/h for most of the route, lower near viewpoints and in wildlife corridors.
- Wildlife: black bears, grizzlies, elk and sheep all use the road corridor. Keep a distance of at least 100 metres from bears and never feed anything.
- Weather: snow is possible in any month at Bow Summit and the icefield. Pack for four seasons in one day.
- Accommodation: a few lodges and hostels sit along the route, plus frontcountry campgrounds that book up months ahead.
The parkway is not a drive to hurry. If you can, give it a night in the middle, wake up to a cold sky over the icefield, and let the second day be about the valley walks near Jasper. We think it is the finest 232 kilometres of pavement in the country, and we have yet to meet anyone who disagrees after driving it.