Alberta’s Athabasca Glacier & the Columbia Icefield Adventure

If you’re based in North America, boy do I have an unforgettable adventure to recommend for your next trip! Banff and Jasper National Park in Canada, nestled in the Rocky Mountains, offer once in a lifetime views and mountain vistas that take your breath away day after day. These two parks are nestled in Alberta, lovingly known as Wild Rose Country, a province that borders British Columbia to the west and Saskatchewan to the east. To get here, visitors fly into Calgary – Alberta’s largest city and the largest metro area within the Canadian prairies (encompassing Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta) and then take a rental car to drive up north to the parks- Banff is 90 minutes away from Calgary, while Jasper is approximately 5 hours.

Make no mistake, there’s a myriad of amazing activities to do in this region – hiking by the turquoise-colored lakes, riding the gondolas to the summit to soak in the views and taking scenic boat tours. Today, I want to talk about walking on the Athabasca Glacier as part of the 2.5 hour Columbia Icefield Adventure tour offered by Pursuit. This is a once in a lifetime experience and something that you will treasure forever.

The Athabasca Glacier is a 5-kilometer glacier that is part of the Columbia Icefield, the largest icefield in the North American Rocky Mountains, and is part of Jasper National Park. It’s around 2 hours north of Banff and 1 hour south of Jasper. To get here, you take the scenic Icefields Parkway – this will probably be the most awe-inspiring drive of your life! It’s rated as one of the most beautiful drives in the world by Conde Nast Traveler, and has numerous scenic points of interest along the way (There are so many beautiful places along this parkway that they will be their own separate blog post!) It’s 232 km long, with no cell service and one gas station at Saskatchewan River Crossing. It’s also closed in the winter months due to the weather conditions. Driving along this parkway is an experience like no other – there are mountains everywhere and picturesque views wherever you look. The views will leave your jaw on the ground and you’ll have so many new photos on your phone’s camera roll.

Your adventure starts at the Columbia Icefields Discovery Center where you check in for your tour. You then board a bus that will take you to the base of the glacier – here, it feels like an ethereal experience, as you feel like you’re on Mars and in the middle of the movie The Martian! At the base, you board one of the mighty Ice Explorer Vehicles (ours was the Ice Explorer 546). It is an all-terrain vehicle that holds 56 passengers and there are only 23 of these in the world – 21 are right here in Jasper, while 2 are in Antarctica and are managed by the American and Australian governments. It has massive tires and drives slow, as it’s not designed for speed, it’s designed for glacial expeditions. It’s a thrilling and steep ride to the glacier – it takes you on the steepest commercial drive in all of North America, known as the world’s slowest roller coaster. The vehicle drives right on the glacier and drops you off!

You can walk on the glacier in a special designated area – don’t walk past the red signs! You can walk here for around 25 minutes before you have to return to your Ice Explorer vehicle. Make sure to dress warm, as the glacier is ten degrees cooler than the Discovery Center. A June trip meant wearing hiking pants, hiking shoes, a sweatshirt, jacket and a hat.

You then board the Ice Explorer vehicle and return to the base. At the base, you’ll board a bus that takes you to the mesmerizing Icefield Skywalk, an elevated viewing platform in the Sunwapta Valley. It’s six kilometers away from the Discovery Center.

The Icefield Skywalk is another thrilling experience – It’s a one-kilometer suspended platform that offers lovely views of the Rockies and surrounding waterfalls. There’s a chance you’ll even see mountain goats! The experience has fossils and museum-like text and exhibits about the surrounding area’s history and wildlife. At the end of the skywalk, another exciting thing awaits you – The chance to walk on a glass-floored skywalk, where you and the rugged terrain below are only separated by 918 feet. The Icefield Skywalk has no time limit, so no rush as you take in the views of the Sunwapta Valley and review the wildlife information and fossils. When you’re ready, buses will take you back to the Discovery Center.

And this may be silly, but it’s a good idea to mention food while we’re all here – Venturing to the glacier and exploring the Icefields Parkway and its multiple scenic places of interest from our base in Banff was an all-day activity. I recommend grabbing a bite to eat for your lunch at the Discovery Center – There’s poutine (A Quebec dish of fries, cheese and gravy) and tasty hot chocolate. There’s a gift shop inside too – I personally couldn’t believe I rode an Ice Explorer and was in awe of just how incredible being on a glacier was, so I got a bookmark that has an image of the Ice Explorer vehicle – after all, there’s only 23 in the world! If you’re like me, then I would recommend getting a keychain or a pin that has an image of the Ice Explorer vehicle.

All in all, the Columbia Icefield was one of those experiences that don’t feel real and that you can’t believe you did! It is something that you think about long after it’s over and will stay with you always. Did you know even NASA was here? Glaciologists were also here to study it in more depth. And while I was a bit worried that this glacier may experience commercialization – It is receding unfortunately due to climate change and the glacier extended all the way to the present day parking lot back in the 19th century – studies conducted here have confirmed that bringing people on this designated area does not damage the glacier, it’s like a gnat on a horse’s back.

This 10,000-year-old sheet of ice is something else! Ready to experience the Columbia Icefield Adventure? You can book tickets here. Just a note that it’s not offered year-round, the 2024 season runs from May 4 to October 14. It really is remarkable – It also remains a very accessible glacier, as reaching other glaciers in the world are very remote and require a helicopter ride to reach them.

Happy planning! I love Alberta!