Known as one of the most stunning drives in the world, the Icefields Parkway (Hwy 93) traverses sections of both Banff National Park (starting near Lake Louise, AB) and Jasper National Park (ending at the town of Jasper, AB). The total length of the Parkway is 145 miles (234 km).
Drive the Icefields Parkway in both directions to truly appreciate its wondrous views. There are many beautiful places to stop, and sights include mountains, glaciers, gorgeous waterfalls, pristine lakes, and sweeping panoramas. Take an Ice Walk at Athabasca Glacier and hike short distances or multi-day backpacking routes or take a leisurely drive, stopping along the way to enjoy the views.
We visited Icefields Parkway – Banff and Jasper National Parks, Banff National Park and Kootenay National Park in Canada, and Glacier National Park in the US in one trip. Check out our other guides!
How Much Time Do You Need for the Icefields Parkway?
Ideally, plan two days for the Icefields Parkway, staying overnight at or near one terminus or the other, depending on your direction of travel. You can make Lake Louise in Banff your stopover on the south end or the town of Jasper on the north. We first drove north from Lake Louise, spent the night near Jasper, then drove back south the following day. The Icefields Parkway is a destination in itself but it can also easily be combined with a trip to Banff National Park. Check out our Other Related Guides at the end of this guide.
Note: Our drive, which began in Banff National Park, started out with a bit of sun peeking through clouds, but it wasn’t long before it was clear that visibility would be less than ideal. The glimpses of mountain scenery we caught confirmed the enthusiastic reports of the grandeur and majesty seen along this Parkway. Even with poor weather, we enjoyed our two days of mountain vistas, lakes, walking on a glacier, hiking and waterfalls. We will definitely go back!
Recommended Icefields Parkway Itinerary
There are many beautiful viewpoints and hikes along the Icefields Parkway. Below is a list of our detailed Icefields Parkway itinerary, including recommended stops and driving and hiking distances and times. Our favorite stops are in bold. Choose hikes based on your allotted time, interests, and skill level.
This spreadsheet is downloadable as Open Document Sheets and can be used in Excel or a cloud spreadsheet tool (e.g., GoogleDrive or Office 365). (Some embedded calculations help in planning your trip more quickly).
Planning Tip: Since we had planned two days for the Icefields Parkway and Maligne Canyon area, we did not do all of our stops in order. Rather, we thought through what made sense for each day considering the activities and time needed at each stop, and our need to be off to our next adventure (Glacier National Park) by early afternoon on Day 2.
However, we have laid out the stops in order from south to north below.
Sights: South to North on the Icefields Parkway
Herbert Lake
Just 4 miles (7 km) north of Lake Louise is Herbert Lake. There is a day-use parking lot here. The lake is hidden from the road and is barely spotted from the parking lot. Walk downhill to the lakeshore for a chance to see wildlife, especially in the early morning and evening. Spend a few minutes enjoying the serenity of this lake.
Crowfoot Glacier
The aptly named Crowfoot Glacier is 22 miles (36 km) north of Lake Louise. Pull into the parking area here for pictures. This retreating glacier still resembles a crow’s foot.
Peyto Lake
At about 43 km north of Lake Louise, Peyto Lake is a much-visited stop on the Icefields Parkway. Its awe-inspiring turquoise waters reflect the surrounding mountains. There are two platforms from which to enjoy the views.
Athabasca Glacier / Columbia Icefield, Jasper National Park, Alberta
Athabasca Glacier and the Columbia Icefields Discovery Centre lie 80 miles (129 km) north of the town of Lake Louise.
Splurge: A guided Ice Walk on the Athabasca Glacier, part of the Columbia Icefield, with Ice Walks. We chose to do a 10:00 AM Classic Half Day Tour (cost ~CA$120/pp).
Tip: When we have a “must-do” item on our itinerary like the Ice Walk, we don’t want to arrive to find out that our desired time is already fully booked. We reserved our spots on this tour online several weeks in advance. Booking in advance also helps the tour operator quickly check us in and provide for any necessary gear.
Ice Walk at Athabasca Glacier
If you do take a tour of the Athabasca Glacier with Ice Walks, you will need to arrive about 30 minutes early and check in with the tour operators in the parking area of the Columbia Icefield Discovery Centre. Ice Walks provides waterproof rain pants and crampons. After gearing up, you will travel across the street in a van to the foot of the glacier.
The hike from the parking lot up to the terminus of the glacier takes about 45 minutes and is over sometimes steep, rocky terrain. The hike is not strenuous, but watch your footing. Along the way, you see fossils as well as striations in the rock caused by smaller rocks and sand moving over the rock.
Finally, you cross a couple of wooden plank “bridges” out onto the ice. The ice walk is thrilling! Peer into brilliantly blue-colored crevasses and pools. Our guide was great, sharing interesting information and helping each tour participant get good looks down into crevasses. He also took photos of us on the glacier with our cameras.
We experienced a rain event on the glacier and temps were cold, but this walk was not something we could have done on our own. It was definitely worth a splurge to walk on the Athabasca Glacier!
Columbia Icefield Discovery Center and Icefield Skywalk
The Center offers Ice Explorer excursions on large red and white buses out onto the glacier. The buses travel up the steep moraines of the glacier and stop for a few minutes for passengers to get off and stand on the glacier.
Included with your CA$116 ticket (2025 prices) for the Ice Explorer is admission to the Columbia Icefield Skywalk. The Skywalk is a .6 mile (1 km) long, elevated glass platform over the Sunwapta Valley (note: the views are of the valley, not the Athabasca Glacier).
Shuttle buses leave the Discovery Centre for the Skywalk every 15 minutes (you cannot drive your vehicle to the Skywalk).
We chose to skip the touristy offerings of the Columbia Icefield Discovery Centre, although we did stop in for a quick look, and a Starbucks coffee to warm up after our Ice Walk. The combo experience at the Columbia Icefield Discovery Centre is time-consuming and underwhelming, and not worth the price to us.
However, if you are traveling with young children or others with limited mobility, you may want to consider these options. Kids would love the bus ride up the glacier, standing on a glacier, and walking out onto the Skywalk.
Tickets for the Skywalk only are $45.
To book tickets, visit the Columbia Icefield Adventure website.
Tangle Creek Falls
Located 85 miles (137 km) north of Lake Louise, and less than 1 mile north of the Columbia Icefield Skywalk, Tangle Creek Falls is visible from the Icefields Parkway. There is a parking lot across the street from the falls. Traveling north, the Falls will be on your right with the parking lot across the street. Flowing over multiple cascades, the Tangle Creek Falls are a pretty sight and a quick stop to stretch your legs and take photos.
Stutfield Glacier
The viewpoint for Stutfield Glacier is 85 miles (137 km) north of Lake Louise, AB on the Icefields Parkway. If visibility is good, pull in here for photos of the glacier and the valley below it.
Beauty Creek / Stanley Falls Hike
Beauty Creek / Stanley Falls is a must-do stop along the Icefields Parkway. Note that the roadside sign only says “Beauty Creek.” Located 89 miles (144 km) north of Lake Louise, AB, this 2.4 mile out-and-back hike first parallels the road and Beauty Creek on an old service road before turning left into the woods, rising up into a canyon, and ending at Stanley Falls. After turning left into the woods to walk up to the waterfall, you will pass smaller but pretty cataracts before reaching the main attraction, Stanley Falls. Walk a bit past the green “Stanley Falls” sign to see the impressive waterfall plunging into the canyon.
Sunwapta Falls
These beautiful and dramatic falls, located 177 km north of Lake Louise, are one of the most popular waterfalls stops on the Icefields Parkway in Jasper National Park. The Upper Falls are easily seen from viewing platforms near the parking area. However, the platforms were crowded when we visited.
We opted to hike down to the Lower Falls to get away from the crowds. From the Upper Falls, you hike downhill on a gently sloped path. This is an easy hike, and you are rewarded with more and more wonderful views of the Sunwapta River crashing through the unbelievably deep gorge it has formed here. Between trees, shrubs, ferns and mosses, the flora here is a riot of greens. The uphill return includes an elevation gain of 480 feet, but the climb is gradual.
The roundtrip hike, including both the Upper and Lower Sunwapta Falls, is 2 miles (3.2 km).
Athabasca Falls
Athabasca Falls is the most visited waterfall stop in Jasper National Park. Located 126 miles (203 km) north of Lake Louise, the falls here are not high at only 23 meters, but make up for height in impressive power. It is only a .6 mile (1 km) hike from the parking lot to the roaring falls. You can move between viewing platforms for different angles on the falls.
Horseshoe Lake
This beautiful alpine lake is 126 miles (204 km) north of the town of Lake Louise, AB. The u-shaped lake is surrounded by cliffs and was once overused by swimmers and cliff divers. Parks Canada has removed the sign marking the lake to discourage overuse. We arrived in the early morning to silence and tranquility.
Park on the pullout along the road to hike the easy 1-mile out-and-back trail, which first follows the lakeshore before rising above the lake on the cliffs. Check out the unofficial cliff-top sign “The Toe” marking a purported depth of the water below at 29.5 feet. (Never dive into unknown waters.)
Note: From Horseshoe Lake, it is only a 17 mile (28 km) drive to the town of Jasper, AB. But we were headed off the Icefields Parkway to Maligne Canyon. Then we would head back south of Jasper to overnight at Wabasso Campground on the Icefields Parkway.
Add On: Maligne Canyon, Jasper National Park, Alberta, CA
Note: Maligne Canyon is not on the Icefields Parkway, but we have included it here because it is worth your time and only a short detour off the Parkway.
This narrow canyon features sheer walls of up to 50 meters high. It’s a must-see! You could easily spend a whole day at Maligne Canyon, but a couple of hours to a half day allow you to see the canyon from different vantage points and enjoy a hike or two.
Maligne Canyon is located about 7 miles (11 km) north and east of the town of Jasper.
The views deep into the canyon from a series of five (5) bridges are breathtaking. (There are a total of six bridges, but we opted to stop at the 5th one as the day was getting late and the 6th bridge requires almost 2 more miles of roundtrip hiking).
As you move from bridge to bridge, you are treated to jaw-dropping views of the Maligne River running deep inside the canyon. Pictures cannot do it justice! The roundtrip distance to the fifth (5th) bridge and back is 2.7 miles.
Wabasso Campground, Jasper National Park
Located about 18 km south of Jasper, AB in Jasper National Park, this campground has 231 sites on 4 loops, with electricity, fire pits and access to free firewood. We were in Site A29, which was exposed and a bit noisy. The campground provided free firewood which was a nice perk. We booked the Wabasso Campground in March for our September stay, but it seems this campground rarely fills up.
To make reservations, visit the Parks Canada reservations page.
