From the town of Jasper south to Lake Louise through the heart of the Canadian Rockies, the Icefields Parkway features one of the most dramatic mountain landscapes on earth. Stretching 230 kilometers (142 miles) in length, the smooth paved highway

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From the town of Jasper south to Lake Louise through the heart of the Canadian Rockies, the Icefields Parkway features one of the most dramatic mountain landscapes on earth. Stretching 230 kilometers (142 miles) in length, the smooth paved highway parallels the Great Divide in a scene of peaks, valleys, glaciers, and lakes, and crosses two mountain passes where subalpine meadows are bright with wildflowers. Many of the mountain peaks are over 11,000 feet; many of the lakes are turquoise. En route are more than 100 visible glaciers, along with waterfalls galore, numerous hiking trails, picnic spots, and campgrounds. Throughout, the probability of seeing bighorn sheep, mountain goats, black bears, elks, and moose are good. One of the highlights is the Columbia Icefield, a 400-square-kilometer (160-square-mile) shimmering mass of snow and ice. Here, you can visit the Icefield Interpretive Centre and join a tour on a specially designed bus that travels onto the six-kilometer (four-mile) tongue of Athabasca Glacier.

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