10 Best Icefields Parkway Stops: Banff to Jasper Road Trip
Find out the weightier Icefields Parkway stops on a Banff National Park to Jasper National Park road trip using this one-day itinerary.
There are many famous road trips in North America — Highway 1 in California, the Florida Keys, Route 66, and, of course, the Icefields Parkway in Alberta, Canada. The first time I heard well-nigh the Icefields Parkway, I thought someone was referring to that Ice Truckers show on the History Channel, but as I began to plan our Canadian Rockies vacation itinerary, I soon learned more.
While the Icefields Parkway can get pretty snowy in the winter, it is by no ways that extreme. The Icefields Parkway, officially Highway 93, stretches for 146 miles from Lake Louise in Banff National Park to the town of Jasper in Jasper National Park. While that sounds very far, it is possible to imbricate the weightier Icefields Parkway stops in just one day, as long as you plan ahead!
Traveling withal this two-lane highway you will cut through the staggering peaks of the rugged Canadian Rockies and pass by increasingly than 100 glaciers and numerous glacier-fed lakes of such a stunning undecorous you won’t be worldly-wise to trust your eyes. It is easy to see why it is considered one of the most trappy drives in the world.
Getting to the Icefields Parkway
While you can technically momentum this Icefields Parkway road trip in three to four hours, you will want to get an early start and leave yourself a full day to have time to enjoy the stops withal the way. The road is well-kept and has wide shoulders, making it possible for plane large RVs to use. However, you need to share the road with bicycle tour groups that are powering through those upper passes.
The Icefields Parkway momentum runs from Lake Louise and continues 232 km withal the Continental Divide to the town of Jasper. This Icefields Parkway itinerary assumes you are starting in Lake Louise, as that is the most worldwide direction, but if you are flying into Edmonton and starting in Jasper, just follow this in reverse.
If you are leaving from Banff, you could take the Trans-Canada Highway for the faster route if you are trying to do it all in a day trip or take the Bow Valley Parkway from Banff to Lake Louise for a increasingly scenic route if you are overnighting in Lake Louise and you are visiting in the summer months.
Just alimony in mind that in 2022, Parks Canada started a three-year project where the eastern section of Bow Valley Parkway will be sealed to public traffic from May 1 to June 25 and September 1 to 30 from Johnston Pass to the Fireside Day Use area.
Along the way, be sure to alimony your vision peeled for woebegone bears. A popular stop between Banff and Lake Louise on the Bow Valley Parkway is Johnston Canyon. Like many stops withal the Icefields Parkway, this is one of the most popular attractions in Banff National Park, and the parking lot fills up early. It is a short hike but it offers wondrous views of the Lower and Upper Falls. In the winter months you can try the Johnston Pass Icewalk.
Once you get to Lake Louise, you will then pick up the Icefields Parkway in Lake Louise. Withal the route, be sure to alimony your vision peeled for wildlife. Closer to Jasper, you are apt to see elk grazing by the road, expressly in the evening.
Tips for Driving the Icefields Parkway
Before you start your Icefields Parkway drive, there are some things you should know first:
- Be sure to gas up surpassing you leave Lake Louise as there is only one gas station between there and Jasper, and you will pay a premium if you need to get gas there.
- Bring withal snacks and refillable water bottles. You will pass a few places where you can get something to eat, like The Lodge at Bow Lake (formerly the Num-Ti-Jah Lodge), The Crossing Resort by Mt. Wilson, Icefields Discovery Centre, and the Sunwapta Falls Rocky Mountain Lodge, but these are few and far between.
- Expect very little lamina service between Lake Louise and Jasper so download your music and any offline maps you might need surpassing you leave. Otherwise, sit when and enjoy the scenery withal one of the most scenic drives through the Rocky Mountains. You can connect to WiFi at the Icefields Discovery Centre.
- Keep in mind that many of the popular attractions have small parking lots. Getting an early start is important in finding a spot in these lots.
- If you are returning to Banff without visiting Jasper, you can unchangingly split up the stops into two separate days and hit the second half on your return trip.
- You will need to purchase a National Park pass surpassing driving the Icefields Parkway. These can be purchased at the gate in Banff or at visitor centers in Banff, Lake Louise, or Jasper. The quickest and easiest way is to purchase a pass online surpassing your trip, and if you plan on visiting multiple National Parks is to invest in the Parks Canada Discovery Pass.
- If you want to visit any of the paid attractions withal the Icefields Parkway, such as the Columbia Icefield Skywalk or the Columbia Icefield Ice Explorer Tour.
- Check road conditions, traffic, and witchery closures at http://www.pc.gc.ca/.
- Dress warm and in layers, wear well-appointed hiking shoes, and bring withstand spray on any hikes and plane short walks.
- Charge up your camera and phone batteries considering you are going to want to take a LOT of pictures! It may moreover help to bring a rain imbricate for your camera and a tripod if you have one to take pictures of the waterfalls.
Must-See Icefields Parkway Stops
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These are the weightier stops on the Icefields Parkway that you can fit into a one-day itinerary or spread out into two days if you are driving up and back. I’ll reiterate once then that it pays to get an early start to write-up the crowds. You will need the uneaten time if you are visiting the Columbia Icefield.
Lake Louise
You will uncork your journey on the Icefields Parkway in Lake Louise. If you are staying overnight, I would recommend the mannerly Post Hotel & Spa (a Relais & Chateaux property) or the stunning Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise.
I would recommend spending at least one night in Lake Louise so that you have time to see some of Lake Louise’s attractions. Many people will pay an arm-and-a-leg to rent one of those iconic red canoes and paddle virtually Lake Louise for the ultimate photo opportunity. This glacial lake is the main witchery and if you want to save your paddling time until you get to Pyramid Lake in Jasper, you will save yourself some cash.
The other popular spot is Moraine Lake. It used to be that if you wanted to get a spot in the parking lot, you had to victorious surpassing 5:00 am. Starting in 2023, Moraine Lake Road is sealed to private vehicles so to get there you will need to either take a shuttle or typesetting a bus reservation with Moraine Lake Bus Company.
If you are staying at one of the hotels by Lake Louise or Lake Moraine, you can take the Lake Connector Shuttle (reservations still needed and proof of hotel stay). Otherwise, visitors can typesetting a spot on the Park and Ride Connector Shuttle from the Lake Louise Ski Resort. Reservations are required and will sell out very early when they unshut for reservations in late April, although well-nigh 60% of reservations will be released at 8:00 am, 48 hours in prior to the throw-away stage and time.
Bow Lake and Crowfoot Glacier
After leaving Lake Louise, momentum north for approximately one hour, and on the left, you will soon see your first stop, Crowfoot Glacier Viewpoint and Bow Lake. There are a couple of small parking lots where you can stop and take a short walk and follow a steep path lanugo to the turquoise lake.
If you want to take the hike to see Bow Glacier Falls, I would recommend driving to the far end of the lake and parking at the Lodge at Bow Lake. This moderate hike is a 5.5-mile round trip. You can moreover pop into the Sideboard at the Lodge.
Peyto Lake
After you throne when to the highway, protract on for flipside 10 minutes until you see the signs for Peyto Lake on the left (when heading northbound.) Peyto Lake’s distinctive fox shape is one of the most iconic sites in the Canadian Rockies. It gets its trappy verisimilitude from the water that runs off the Peyto Glacier, part of the Wapta Icefield.
The Government recently spent nearly $3 million to expand the parking lots and modernize the facilities and Peyto Lake, Bow Summit Trail, and the viewpoint are now reopened for visitors.
A ten-minute uphill walk will bring you to the viewing platform overlooking the famous fox-shaped Peyto Lake. The viewing platform can be extremely crowded, but if you can get into the corner of the lower platform, you should be worldly-wise to get an unobstructed view of the lake.
If that doesn’t work, you can take one of the trails surpassing you reach the viewpoint and walk lanugo to an opening with an unobstructed view, just mind your step as the path is steep and there are a lot of loose rocks, making it slippery. There is moreover a second, unmarked viewpoint if you protract on past the first.
It is possible to hike lanugo to Peyto Lake in well-nigh 30-45 minutes, which is something very few people do (this stop is popular with bus tours.) However, if you want to hit all these stops in one day, you probably won’t have time for the round-trip hike to the lakefront. Plan to spend well-nigh an hour at this stop.
Mistaya Canyon
The parking lot for Mistaya Pass is moreover on the southbound side of the highway (on the left when driving north from Lake Louise to Jasper), well-nigh 25 minutes past Peyto Lake. The parking lot isn’t very large so I think the big busses skip this stop, meaning there are fewer people there too.
From the parking lot, it is well-nigh a one-kilometer hike lanugo to the pass (which ways when uphill on the return.) At the canyon, you will navigate over a underpass that spans the Mistaya River. From the bridge, you can see how the water has carved its way through the stone as the river flows from Peyto Lake and later meets the North Saskatchewan River.
You can then walk left or right withal the rim of the canyon. Take a few minutes to walk lanugo and sit on the rocks to observe the powerful spritz of the river.
The Crossing
The Crossing resort at Saskatchewan River Crossing is located well-nigh halfway between Banff and Jasper, at the junction of Highway 93 and 11. This is where you will find a gas service station, a unstipulated store, a cafe, and a restaurant, as well as wipe bathrooms. This is one of your few chances to get a zest to eat, fill up on gas, and grab some souvenirs.
On your way to the Columbia Icefield, you will travel withal a hairpin lines known as Big Bend withal Big Hill. If you want to stop here and take a photo of the road below, be very shielding and make sure your car is completely off the road. There is limited space for turnouts here for a quick photo stop.
Columbia Icefield
Not long without The Crossing, you will enter Jasper National Park. Just 45 minutes north of the Crossing you will come to the Columbia Icefield Discovery Centre. This is the home wiring for exploring the Athabasca Glacier and the various related activities.
The visitor part-way offers a restaurant, cafe, bathrooms, and a small exhibit/visitor part-way with a movie well-nigh glaciers. It is moreover where you can sign up for some of the excursions offered by Pursuit Banff. They offer two types of experiences, the Glacier Ice Explorer and the Glacier Skywalk, which can be combined into a Glacier Adventure ticket.
If you are interested in either of these activities, I would highly recommend you typesetting a timed ticket in whop or you may victorious to find them sold out for the day, or you may need to wait two hours surpassing the next availability.
The Glacier Ice Explorer tour uses large glacier trucks to take you up onto the Athabasca Glacier. You will then have 30 minutes to walk on ice that is over 1,000 feet thick! Just make sure you wear the towardly footgear and that you stay within the designated boundary. It is extremely dangerous to walk on a glacier without a certified guide.
From the glacier or Discovery Centre, it is a short shuttle ride to the Glacier Skywalk, a glass-floored observation platform with floats 919 feet over the Sunwapta Valley. From here you can view the glaciers and rugged mountain peaks in the distance.
The only downside is that it is only wieldy via a bus from the glacier or the Icefields Discovery Centre. So waiting for your timed ticket and then waiting for the next return bus can really eat into your day for a stop where you will likely only spend 15 minutes on site.
Tangle Creek Falls
After the Icefields Discovery Centre, you may be tired or running out of time and want to protract straight to Jasper. You can certainly do this and hit the remaining stops withal the Icefields Parkway on your return trip. However, if you only have a day, try to squeeze in some quick stops at a few increasingly waterfalls.
Five minutes remoter up the road from the Discovery Centre, you will come to Tangle Creek Falls. When traveling north, the falls are on your right (northbound side) but the parking lot is wideness the street on the left (southbound side) so be shielding crossing the street.
This tiered waterfall is quite tropical to the road but if you want to climb up to the upper falls, you will need to scramble over some rocks so take superintendency and watch your feet.
Sunwapta Falls
Another 35 minutes north will bring you to the turn-off for Sunwapta Falls, which is halfway between the Columbia Icefield and Jasper. The Upper Falls are just a five-minute walk from the parking lot. The Lower Falls are a little remoter (about 10 minutes) and worth the walk.
Be sure to bring your withstand spray, plane if you are just taking a short walk. I visited Sunwapta Falls with a local photographer and he told me that he once saw a withstand walk withal the path very tropical to the parking lot. Also, be shielding where you squint for those photo ops. The rocks get very slippery in the mist from the falls and you shouldn’t step vastitude the barriers and take any risks just to get a good photo.
If you are hungry, you can unchangingly fuel up at the deli at the Sunwapta Falls Rocky Mountain Lodge.
Athabasca Falls
Twenty minutes past Sunwapta Falls will bring you to your next stop, Athabasca Falls. This is moreover a popular stop for all the bus tours as well so expect crowds! These powerful falls have carved through the rock, similar to what you find at Mistaya Canyon.
There are variegated viewing platforms where you can capture some unconfined pictures of the falls. If those are too crowded, you can moreover follow the signs to view the Lower Canyon. This walk will requite you a unconfined view of the Athabasca River and you may plane get to see a scenic bladder tour going by.
Jasper
After Athabasca Falls, the scenic mountain town of Jasper is only 25 minutes away. You can gloat reaching your destination with a unconfined meal at one of the restaurants in town.
There are many places to stay in town but we enjoyed a well-appointed and affordable stay at Jasper House Bungalows.
Plan to stay a few days considering there are so many things to do in Jasper. Be sure to at least hit the highlights like a wend trip on Maligne Lake to Spirit Island, a hike in Maligne Canyon, and yachting on Pyramid Lake.
Visiting the Canadian Rockies? Read more
If you are planning on driving the Icefields Parkway, you may moreover want to squint at these other related wares for Jasper and Banff:
- Planning a Canadian Rockies vacation
- Best things to do in Jasper
- Where to eat in Jasper
- Climbing the Via Ferrata in Banff
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