a guide to the best roadside stops along the icefields parkway

Written By Erica Drake

The Icefields Parkway is hands down one of the most beautiful and picturesque drives that we have done. It is a mountain road connecting Lake Louise in Banff National Park to Jasper National Park to the north. Give yourself plenty of time when driving through as there are a number of stops that you aren’t going to want to miss!

Below is a guide which details each stop driving from Lake Louise north towards Jasper.

Bow Lake

23 miles from Lake Louise (37.7 km)

Bow lake sits at 6,300 feet (1,920 m) elevation with the Crowfoot Mountains towering above. This is a beautiful road side stop just to take in the scenery or take a walk along the lake!

There are also several hikes in the area including: Bow Glacier Falls or North Crowfoot Mountain with a view of Bow Lake below.

Peyto Lake

27 miles from Lake Louise (44 km)

Peyto Lake is an iconic lake in Banff National Park and I am sure that you have seen the photos before of it!

It does require a bit of a hike to get to the viewpoint. There are two different trails: Peyto Lake Panorama View is a loop trail 1.5 miles long with 305 feet of elevation. I would recommend this one! However, there is Peyto Lake Viewpoint, which is shorter and brings you to a platform overlooking the lake! Both are incredible.

Columbia Icefield / athabasca glacier

80 miles from Lake Louise (129 km)

The Columbia Icefield is the largest icefield in North America, south of the Arctic. There are 6 major glaciers that make up the icefield, with Athabasca Glacier being the most accessible one here. You can visit the Columbia Icefield Glacier Discovery Centre where you can buy tickets for different sightseeing tours. One of them being where you can board a snowcoach that will traverse part way up the glacier & you can get out and walk along it or you can simply walk up to the viewpoint.

Glacier Skywalk

83 miles from Lake Louise (134 km)

A unique experience where you can walk along a glass floor 280 meters above the Sunwapta Valley! A tour must be booked through the Columbia Icefield Glacier Discovery Centre and last summer (2023) were $37 USD / adult and $24.05 USD / child.

Sunwapta Falls

110 miles from Lake Louise (177 km)

Sunwapta Falls: Upper & Lower. The upper falls are an accessible roadside stop, but in order to access the lower falls, it requires a hike - Sunwapta Falls Trail on AllTrails, 2 miles out and back with about 400 feet elevation rated as moderate.

Athabasca Falls

201 miles from Lake Louise (125 km)

I found Athabasca Falls to be the more impressive of the two falls and it is a simple roadside stop! There are several different viewpoints along the short trail through this area.

Erica Drake