Running between Lake Louise and the town of Jasper 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

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Running between Lake Louise and the town of Jasper 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 more than 11,000 feet tall; 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, elk, and moose is good. One highlight is the namesake Columbia Icefields, a 400-square-kilometer (160-square-mile) shimmering mass of snow and ice. Here, you can visit the Columbia Icefields Interpretive Centre, and join a tour on a specially designed bus that travels onto the six-kilometer (four-mile) tongue of the Athabasca Glacier.

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