Icefields Parkway from Banff to Jasper | Canada

The Icefields Parkway is a must-do for every tourist in West Canada! The parkway goes through the Rocky Mountains, with beautiful views of canyons, glaciers, and rivers.

1) Morraine Lake

We also went to Morraine Lake but then a thunderstorm hit us. The lake stayed blue during the heavy rain though! We planned on kayaking on this lake, but yeah that didn’t go through.

Tip: Do Morraine Lake and Lake Louise (and the Lake Anges trail) on a separate day!

2) Lake Louise

The town and lake wear the same name. The lake is a glacial lake, so don’t even try to take a swim in it. The bright blue color of the lake comes from stone particles that absorb all the colors except for the color blue.

Tip: Do Morraine Lake and Lake Louise (and the Lake Anges trail) on a separate day!

3) Lake Agnes Trail

We decided to follow the Lake Agnes trail from Lake Louise. The trail takes around 2 hours (return) and is 7 km long (return). Lake Agnes is quite beautiful but Lake Louise is more beautiful. Lake Agnes also has a teahouse but don’t even bother because the queue starts already at 8 AM for a tea.

On your way to the top, you’ll pass Mirror Lake. When there is no wind, the mirror lake will do its job!

We also thought we would see Lake Louise from on top but that wasn’t the case. The trees were too big and stood in our view. We did see parts though!

Tip: Do Morraine Lake and Lake Louise (and the Lake Anges trail) on a separate day!

4) Crowfoot Glacier

Crowfoot Glacier is a glacier in Banff National Park and originates from the Little Ice Age. The glacier once resembled a crowfoot but the glacier has shrunk too much for it to be recognizable again.

5) Bow Lake

The water from Bow Lake comes from the meltwater of the Bow Glacier. You can also see the Crowfoot Glacier from Bow Lake.

6) Peyto Lake

Our next stop on the Icefields Parkway is Peyto Lake! Peyto Lake is another glacier-fed lake in Banff National Park. Peyto Lake is known for its bright color. The best view of Peyto Lake is from Bow Summit, the highest point on the Icefields Parkway.

Fun Fact: The water has rock particles that absorb all the colors except for blue and green. Thus the color of Peyto Lake.

7) Athabasca Glacier

The Athabasca Glacier is one of the 6 glaciers of the Columbia Icefield (the largest ice field in the Rocky Mountains). The Athabasca Glacier is 6 km long and 90-300 meters thick. If you want, you can walk on the glacier.

Special Snow coaches will take you to a location on the glacier where it is safe to walk on. Bring your sweater and sunglasses with you!

Sad Fact: Although the Snow Coaches are eco-friendly (they are now transforming them into a more eco-friendly vehicle), you can still see the impact global warming has on the glacier. The glacier has shrunk more than 1.5 km and lost half of its volume in the past 125 years.

8) Glacier Skywalk

After the Athabasca Glacier, we walked on the Glacier Skywalk. The skywalk gives you a beautiful view of the Sunwapta Valley.

9) Sunwapta Falls

The Sunwapata Falls has a drop of 18.5 meters and the water comes from the Athabasca Glacier.

10) Athabasca Falls

The Athabasca falls is not known for its height (23 meters) but is known for its force!

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