5 Ways to Explore Columbia Icefields and Athabasca Glacier on the Icefields Parkway

Jasper National Park’s top natural attraction is open for the season! Along the Icefields Parkway are several natural attractions south of the Jasper townsite, including glaciers, waterfalls, lakes, rivers, and towering mountain peaks.

Among the must-see roadside attractions are the Columbia Icefields, open every May for the spring, summer, and fall seasons.

Credit: Columbia Icefields

As a must-visit Jasper National Park attraction, the Columbia Icefields and Glacier Discovery Centre offer numerous ways to enjoy the area, see the Athabasca Glacier, and explore more of the Icefields.

Natural History of the Columbia Icefields

There was a point in time when the Columbia Icefields covered most of Western Canada’s Rocky Mountains! The Athabasca Glacier, one of the six glaciers fed by the Columbia Icefield, has receded nearly a mile in a century and continues shrinking 2–3 metres yearly; others are visible nearby. While the glacier continued to recede and advance over thousands of years, it has only permanently receded since 1840. Since that year, the Athabasca Glacier has only continued to shrink and lose permanent mass. With this, the Toe of the Glacier trail or Athabasca Glacier trail from the base of the mountain, has only become longer over time. As you hike this trail, there are markers indicating where the toe of the glacier once reached. As you reach the markers for the late 20th and early 21st century, the recession of the Athabasca Glacier becomes much more rapid.

And the remnants left behind from the receding and melting glacier create a vast landscape of smoothed-out limestone rocks. The glacial meltwaters then fill Sunwapta Lake, and later the Sunwapta River. This river helps to create the massive valley over which the Skywalk takes hikers. Plus, meltwaters in the opposite direction off the mountains feed the Athabasca River!

Columbia Icefield Glacier Discovery Centre

Glacier Discovery Centre is your first step to sightseeing and diving deep into its natural history around the Athabasca Glacier. Conveniently located across from the Columbia Icefield along the Icefields Parkway, the centre serves as the main gateway for exploring the glacier’s stunning landscape and learning about its natural history and significance.

Visitors can hike to or on the glacier (with guides), get a ride along the ice, accommodations and meals with glacier views, and a hike that takes you 280m over the Sunwapta Valley.

Columbia Icefield Adventures

Pursuit offers three exciting guided tours and excursions to help you get the best views and learn about the Icefields. These tours can be packaged with stays at the Glacier View Lodge to help you save a bit of money on the getaway.

Ice Odyssey

Credit: Columbia Icefield Adventure by Pursuit

The Centre’s Ice Odyssey adventure is a 2-hour trip up to and onto the Glacier in a large all-terrain vehicle, with time to explore on foot. These are smaller tours, with vehicles accommodating up to 5 guests.

The large ATV brings you and your group on a memorable ride around the Glacier while guides provide the glacier’s full history. Once at a safe exploration site, you, your group, and guide will have time to get up close with the ice.

Skywalk

Credit: Columbia Icefield Adventure by Pursuit

The area surrounding the Icefields is also known as the Sunwapta Valley, with Sunwapta Lake at the base of the Glacier. With the Columbia Icefield Skywalk, you’ll get to walk out onto a glass bridge suspended 280m over the beautiful Sunwapta Lake and Valley.

Before hitting the glass suspension bridge, there will be a 1km interpretive walk that offers information on the area’s wildlife and natural history. There is no time limit with a Skywalk pass, and you are free to wander the bridge to get as many vantage points as possible, as there are many! A pass includes a shuttle ride between the Discovery Centre and Skywalk.

Columbia Icefield Adventure

Credit: Columbia Icefield Adventure by Pursuit

As with the Ice Odyssey, Columbia Icefield Adventure tours meet up at the Glacier Discovery Centre parking lot before embarking on a similar ride up the glacier. On this adventure, however, tour groups are much larger and the ride, therefore, is in a much larger Ice Explorer. There will also be time to explore a pre-selected spot on the glacier. Afterwards, a shuttle takes you from the Discovery Centre to the Skywalk.

Hike the Athabasca Glacier Trail

Athabasca Glacier Trail/Credit: To Do Canada

The Athabasca Glacier Trail, or the hike to the Toe of the Glacier, is a relatively simple trail that offers incredible rewards. In total, the hike out to the Toe and back is 1.8km or a roughly 1-hour hike, depending on how much time you spend sightseeing.

It is extremely important to remember to STAY OFF THE ICE AND GLACIER AT ALL TIMES. The only people allowed on the ice are the guided tour groups. The ice near the trails is hollow, cracking, and over fast-moving and ice-cold water. There will be a large rock bench at the end of the trail, which offers some of the best views of the Glacier. From here, you’ll be able to see the history of the glacier’s recession, the deep crevasses, which also add to the ice’s danger, and up to the top of the mountain and ice.

Local Icefield Tours

In addition to the tours offered by the Glacier Discovery Centre, there are other ways to explore the Athabasca Glacier and Icefields Parkway attractions through these local tour operators.

IceWalks begin tours alongside the Icefields season from May to October. Choose between the half-day, full-day, or Indigenous-led IceWalk tours. As opposed to the tours listed above, these IceWalks include more moderate hikes of up to 8.5km.

Brewster Sightseeing offers a wide array of Rocky Mountain tours between Jasper, Banff, and Yoho National Parks. Included in those adventures are Icefield Parkway Tours with stops at the Icefields and the Skywalk.

A Stay at Glacier View Lodge

Credit: Glacier View Lodge by Pursuit

The Glacier View Lodge at the Glacier Discovery Centre is also open seasonally, from May to October each year. Take advantage of the limited reservation windows and create the ultimate Icefields getaway and experiences. Many of the rooms offer a clear and sweeping view of the Athabasca Glacier, while the rest offer beautiful mountain vistas to the south.

The Lodge also operates the Icefields dining experiences: Altitude and the Chalet. And, when you book a room alongside any of the Columbia Icefields Adventures mentioned below, get special rates and a welcome package of a cocktail and charcuterie.

There is a short trail between the Glacier View Lodge and the meeting point for those with booked tours.

Dining at Altitude or The Chalet

The two icefield dining experiences are both within the Glacier View Lodge and are open to the public and hotel guests.

The Chalet is the more casual option among the two restaurants with a laid-back atmosphere, kids’ menus, and grab-and-go items.
Book a table at Altitude for an elevated Rocky Mountain dining experience with menus for every meal of the day. These restaurant atmospheres are also enhanced by the surrounding mountain and glacier views.

Planning Your Trip – Athabasca Glacier and Columbia Icefields

What: The Athabasca Glacier and Columbia Icefields are the largest of their kind in the North American Rocky Mountains, as well as some of the most accessible in the entire world. This attraction is about halfway between Jasper and the Saskatchewan River Crossing on the Icefields Parkway, with a Lodge, restaurants, and guided tours of the Icefields.

There are also more ways with other tour groups to experience and explore the icefields. However, for those who’d like to get the best views and icefields experiences, they should consider the Ice Oddyssey vehicle tour, or Icefields Adventure, which also includes access to the Skywalk. Tickets for the Skywalk are also available separately.