Icefields Parkway — The Most Beautiful Road in the World★★★
The Icefields Parkway (Highway 93 North) connects Lake Louise with Jasper over 232 breathtaking kilometers — and it is rightly called the most beautiful road in the world. No highway, no scenic highway, no panoramic route comes close to this experience. Three to four hours of pure driving time, but you should plan for a whole day — at every turn, a viewpoint awaits that compels you to stop.
The road passes by over 100 glaciers, turquoise lakes, thundering waterfalls, and through valleys where bears, elk, mountain goats, and bighorn sheep stand by the roadside (sometimes literally on the road). There are no towns, no gas stations (except for one at the Saskatchewan River Crossing — be sure to fill up!), no cell coverage. Just the road, the mountains, and you.
Highlights from South to North
- Bow Lake (km 37) — First major glacial lake, right by the road. Crowfoot Glacier in the background.
- Peyto Lake (km 42) — Famous for its fox head shape and surreal turquoise. 15-minute climb to the viewpoint. MUST stop!
- Saskatchewan River Crossing (km 77) — Only gas station and snack bar on the route.
- Columbia Icefield (km 127) — The largest glacier in the Rocky Mountains. The Athabasca Glacier is one of the few glaciers in the world you can walk on. Ice Explorer Tour (special bus on the glacier, 95 CAD) or Glacier Skywalk (glass platform over the Sunwapta Valley, 37 CAD).
- Sunwapta Falls (km 175) — Double waterfall in a narrow gorge, 5 minutes from the parking lot.
- Athabasca Falls (km 199) — The most powerful waterfall on the route, 23 meters of pure force.
💡 Tipp
Drive the route from south to north (Lake Louise → Jasper) — this way you have the sun at your back and the best photo conditions. Start early in the morning, then you'll have the first viewpoints almost to yourself.
Achtung
The Icefields Parkway is often difficult to drive from November to April due to snow and ice. Winter tires are mandatory. In summer, there can be traffic jams at popular viewpoints (Peyto Lake, Columbia Icefield). Don't miss the gas station at the Saskatchewan River Crossing — it's the only one for 232 km!
