Icefields Parkway

The Icefields Parkway runs 232 kilometres along the Continental Divide from Lake Louise to Jasper and is often called one of the most beautiful drives in the world. Highway 93 North links Banff and Jasper National Parks, both part of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site, and passes more than a hundred glaciers, turquoise lakes and waterfalls. Near its highest point at Bow Summit, a short walk leads to the wolf-head-shaped viewpoint over Peyto Lake. Halfway along, at the Columbia Icefield, Ice Explorer buses drive out onto the Athabasca Glacier and the glass-floored Skywalk hangs above the Sunwapta Valley. Further north, Sunwapta and Athabasca Falls thunder through narrow gorges, and mountain goats, bighorn sheep and bears are often seen along the road. There is no mobile coverage along most of the road, and the only fuel stop, at Saskatchewan River Crossing, closes in winter.