One of the best parts of a trip visiting both Banff National Park and Jasper National Park is the drive along the highway connecting the two. The Icefields Parkway is a 144-mile scenic drive linking Lake Louise with Jasper, Alberta. “Scenic drive” is a huge understatement, as the Icefields Parkway is more than just scenic. It is also the access point for countless awe-inspiring waterfalls, glaciers, lakes, mountains, and some of the best hikes of our entire trip.

While the entire length of the Icefields Parkway could easily be driven in a few hours, I highly recommend allocating at least 2 separate days of your itinerary to this drive. There are so many lakes and waterfalls and glaciers you will have to pick from to stop along the way, and the day will still feel too short. We drove north from Lake Louise to Jasper National Park. The following stops are in order of occurrence moving from south to north.

Pro tip: fill your car up with gas (and get ice for your cooler as needed) at Petro Canada in Lake Louise! Gas here was surprisingly cheaper than other places, despite the fact that most people fill up here before departing on Icefields Parkway.

Herbert Lake

Herbert Lake is super close to Lake Louise and we enjoyed a morning coffee by the water.

Bow Lake

Supremely reflective and calm, still water is found at Bow Lake. This lake might be my favorite lake we visited on the Icefields Parkway, and is still an easy drive from Lake Louise. Come here for your panoramic photos! I just couldn’t stop snapping away. You can hike from here to Bow Glacier Falls if you want a trek, but we skipped this one in the interest of time.

Peyto Lake

Yet another lake full of beautiful turquoise creamy glacial water. This lake can be viewed only from above and there are no in-water activities. The parking lot leads to an elevated observation deck, which gets crowded with tour groups. Escape the crowds by continuing your walk to the start of the hike to Bow Summit. This hike is a loop, but if you just want a better birds eye view of Peyto Lake, go to the right (counterclockwise direction). At the first large vertical blue marker with the sign directing to Peyto Lake, turn right and hike until you see the view. This hike was easy and took only about 10 minutes, but beware of the hoards of mosquitos in the Bow Summit loop.

Waterfowl Lakes

Waterfowl- another set of beautiful lakes. You’d think all of the gorgeous lakes along Icefields Parkway would get old, but they don’t. We took the opportunity to eat lunch here with a lake view.

Mistaya Canyon

These gently roaring rushes were enchanting. They sounded like the brown noise machine we used to fall asleep to, but this was more like brown roaring than brown noise. I loved the mesmerizing zigzag of the water carving its way through the limestone canyon.

Saskatchewan River Crossing

This is the last place to get gas before reaching Jasper, Alberta. It is quite overpriced but if you need gas, you need gas.

Weeping Wall and Panther Falls

These water features were recommended on other blogs but we passed on them to save time.

Parker Ridge Trail

OKAY. Parker Ridge Trail is, in my opinion, the BEST hike on the Icefields Parkway. This trek is less than 4 miles total (out and back) but we took our time and spent a whopping 2.5 hours on the trail. Parker Ridge Trail is one of the best effort:reward ratio hikes I’ve completed, and by far my favorite of the Icefields Parkway hikes! Even in the middle of summer, the path was quiet with only a few other groups of hikers every now and then.

The trailhead is very near the Columbia Icefields Centre and the Wilcox Pass, just about halfway between Lake Louise and Jasper.

The trail starts climbing the mountain with a series of dusty switchbacks ascending past patches of wildflowers and swaths of snow before you crest the first small ridge. At this point you’ll notice that the official Parker Ridge Trail continues to the left, but there are several smaller but definitely well-trodden and established footpaths extending to the right. We decided to be adventurous and took one of these smaller paths less traveled and I’m so glad we did! The path crisscrossed over several other trails until it reached the rightmost portion of the peak of the  mountain. At this elevation, the wind was positively roaring. We came upon several cute little rock forts that served as wind shelters and we took a snack break before returning down the peak back toward the main trail.

The main trail continues along a ridge on the side of the leftward mountain, offering spectacular views of the Saskatchewan Glacier. The Saskatchewan Glacier, extending from the Columbia Icefield, really is magnificent. It is the Columbia Icefield’s largest outflow glacier. It was so refreshing to finally see a glacier that looked like it was still at least a bit alive, winding immeasurably slowly all the way down to its own glacial riverbank.

Icefields Centre RV Camping

Our home for the night was at the Icefields Centre RV campsite. This “campsite” was actually a large parking lot just off the Icefields Parkway, right outside the Columbia Icefield Discovery Centre and across the highway from the Athabasca Glacier. These campsites cost $16.75 nightly in August 2023. The sites are unserviced (no water, electricity hookups, or campfires) but offer wonderful views of several towering glaciers and the Columbia Icefield Discovery Centre stays open overnight with accessible bathroom facilities. This campsite is first-come, first-served. Glacier View Lodge is also nearby (the parking lot is connected to the RV campsite) with a Starbucks to warm you up.