Touring the Icefields Parkway: From Banff to Jasper

When we first thought of the idea for our Canadian adventure, Will and I both knew the Icefields Parkway would be at the top of our must-do list. It’s routinely considered to be one of the most scenic highways in the world, and let me take a sec to confirm that. The roadside scenery is absolutely breathtaking.

Upon arriving in Canada, we spent a single night at a border campground before beelining it to the Icefields Parkway. We rolled into the Lake O’Hara trailhead around 8pm and parked the van amidst darkened skies and fat snowflakes. Yes, winter had arrived! The wet, slushy snow fell around the van as we nestled inside with our heater, enjoying the coziness of the Eurovan. The Icefields Parkway would wait til tomorrow!

All Photos By My Husband {Except for two. I’ll let you guess which two!}

The morning dawned brisk and wet. Rather than stay in the general area and hike through the rain, we changed our plans. We’d leave the Banff area and head north to Jasper. With four hours of driving separating the two mountain towns, we figured the weather patterns could be drastically different.

As Jerry the Eurovan pointed north with Tals curled around the stick shift, I pressed my face to the glass of my window. The Colorado Rockies are stunning from the car but I have *literally* never seen roadside scenery quite like the Canadian Rockies. Towering, rugged peaks dotted the skyline, frosted with snow and glaciers. Turquoise-aqua lakes littered the ground while various fall colors filled in between. It was like a cornucopia of colors and I was losing my mind!

Since we had no schedule, we decided to break up the 150-mile road into pieces. If we saw something beautiful, we would explore. And truthfully, we didn’t make it very far before we saw the glistening water of Bow Lake sparkling on the west side of the highway. It was time to hike!

We spent days and days hiking along the Canadian Rockies, so I’m not going to detail every single outing. I will say that Bow Lake and the corresponding hiking was perfect for our first trail time. The previous night’s snow was still sitting on the trees while muddy singletrack skirted the lake shore. It was chilly and messy but oh-so-wonderful.

After Bow Lake, we settled into our Eurovan, only to pop back out a few minutes later. A road sign pointed us to the west, indicating Peyto Lake. Truthfully, I had no idea what Peyto Lake was but Will nodded in a knowing manner. “Trust me,” he said. “You’re going to love this.”

Wow. Just, wow.

We struggled to find the unmarked trail that drops down to the shore of Peyto, so we satisfied ourselves with the popular overlook. It was a slushy, uphill climb to the scenic platform, but it was worth the crowds and slip-sliding. I have never, ever in my life seen color quite like it.

And Tally? She could barely comprehend what she was seeing! I worried about her becoming anxious with all of the people, but we had no cause for concern. Once we reached the overlook, she became immediately enthralled with the lake. In fact, she stuck her head through the slats to get a closer look, and intently stared down at the lake for as long as we would let her!

More on the Icefields Parkway coming soon!

********************