A Western Canada Road Trip – Day 14
The Icefields Parkway is an iconic Canadian drive that everyone should do at some point in their life.
It was time to leave Banff National Park, and head north towards Jasper National Park.
There was no cell phone service for the majority of our drive towards Jasper National park so I’m glad my boyfriend, Callum, and I plugged in our destination of Columbia Icefields before we left. We honestly would have been fine if we hadn’t though because there is a lot of clearly marked signs of worthwhile viewpoints along the way.
Cool Stops from Banff National Park to Columbia Icefields
Our goal for today was to reach the Columbia Icefields, and do one of the tours.
I’ve seen photos of the SkyWalk and thought this looked cool. If it weren’t COVID, you would need to pre-book your tour, but we didn’t pre-book as we weren’t sure what our plans were for the day.
Stop 1: Lake Louise Gondola
As a skier, I have always loved chair lifts, and been fascinated by what goes on at ski hills during the summer. When we saw a pamphlet saying we could potentially see grizzly bears from the Lake Louise chair lift, I was interested.
While we didn’t see grizzly bears, this was a sweet experience. We bought tickets that included breakfast and the chair lift ride to the top.
From the top of the ski lift we could see Lake Louise amongst the mountains, and many other mountains within the Canadian Rockies.
The views were epic.
After our chair lift ride down (also a novelty since as a skier I always ski down), we went into the shop, and I got discounted hiking poles.
Stop 2: Bow Lake
Our first stop within the actual Icefields Parkway was Bow Lake. We stopped for some photos, and then decided to venture down a side road towards The Lodge at Bow Lake for a different perspective.
I didn’t know what this was when we turned down the side road, but saw some cool looking red buildings, that turned out to be the Lodge at Bow Lake. The Lodge was closed though. I suspect because of COVID.
After taking a few more photos and videos, we continued down the road towards the Columbia Icefields, looking for our next place to stop.
We wanted to stop at Peyto Lake, but this was closed. Too bad. A lot of people love this lake.
Stop 3: Saskatchewan River Crossing
Saskatchewan River Crossing was another quick stop, but another nice place for photos. Something about the shape of the river from the viewpoint is really captivating.
Probably because this is where three rivers meet, and there are nice mountains in the background.
Stop 4: Columbia Icefields
After Saskatchewan River Crossing, we finally reached Columbia Icefields! We parked at the visitor centre, and checked out the available tours.
They usually offer a combo tour called the Columbia Icefield Adventure, where you get to do both the SkyWalk, and a ride in an all terrain Ice Explorer onto the Athabasca Glacier.
Unfortunately, due to COVID the Ice Explorer portion wasn’t offered, so we just decided to book tickets for the Skywalk only. We booked the next available slot, and headed back to our campervan to make some lunch.
Skywalk
Well fed, and ready to go, we headed back to the visitor center for our tour. They loaded us onto a bus, and we drove about 5-10 minutes to the Skywalk.
You can only visit the Skywalk from the official shuttle bus we took. There would be no room for parking otherwise.
The photos and videos of the Skywalk look incredible. You are on a glass floor and gives a great angle for photos with glaciers in the background. The thing is, those shots you see advertising the experience aren’t really possible, as where you would need to stand isn’t even accessible.
This was one of this situations where I built it up more in my head and it didn’t live up to my expectations. It is possible that this would have been cooler in May as there maybe would have been some snow below the hovering glass floor, but given it was the last day of August, it was just dirt.
It is a cool experience, but I think it is like $20 cool, not $40 cool. I feel like the experience you get is overpriced, but maybe it would have been a better experience had we been able to do the Ice Explorer part of the tour.
Athabasca Glacier
Slightly disappointed, we hopped back on the bus to the visitor centre. Disembarking the bus, we headed back to our campervan.
Callum thought we should drive across the street to a mini parking lot that was closer to the Athabasca Glacier.
This was an awesome experience. Completely free, and you can walk up to the Athabasca Glacier (just not on it cause this is dangerous without a guided tour). As you walk down the path towards the glacier they have signs showing where the edge of the glacier used to be at different years. It was really sobering seeing how far it has retreated since I have been born. Experiences like this are a real example of a warming planet.
After a windy photoshoot, we headed back to our campervan.
Wilcox Campground
Wilcox Campground is the only campground along the Icefields Parkway. It is not reservable, and there are only 46 sites available.
Given it is first come, first serve, we didn’t want to leave this to chance. This is one of my favourite campgrounds.
We drove up, and there was this little shelter where you fill out your information (including payment), and put the little envelope in a little mailbox. I hadn’t experienced campsites like this (unserviced) before this trip so I enjoyed the novelty.
We drove around all of Wilcox Campground until we found the campsite with the best views (that was available).
After our day of adventure it was nice to just park up, look out at nature and spend some time together. I still look back on this night fondly (in 2024).
I would like to go back to this Campground again at some point and do the Wilcox Pass hike. This is a really popular hike, but our priority for tomorrow was to make it to continue along the Icefields Parkway to our campsite at Wapiti in Jasper National Park.
Prepare for your Trip
Learn
A few books, documentaries, and podcasts I recommend consuming before or during your trip to Canada 🇨🇦. Evolving Pop Culture Guide to Canada.
Discover the beauty of Canada’s sunniest province! Majestic mountains, diverse hikes, glacial lakes, dinosaurs and more. Alberta (AB) is home to North America’s largest mountain range, the second largest dark sky preserve in the world, iconic Canadian wildlife, and a place where dinosaurs used to roam. No matter the time of year, AB won’t disappoint (I would know because I have visited in almost every season)! Learn from my firsthand human, Canadian experience what Alberta is like, must-sees, and tips in my Alberta Travel Destination Guide.
