Walk on ancient ice, see blue crevasses, and drink pure meltwater.
Improvement District No. 12, AB T0M 2H0, Canada Get directions
"A vast, iconic icefield whose massive glaciers are best experienced via all-terrain Ice Explorer tours led by naturalists; visitors can walk on the glacier, see rivulets of meltwater, and confront the sobering reality that this landmark is predicted to shrink significantly within a few decades." - Rebecca Deurlein Rebecca Deurlein Rebecca Deurlein believes everything is interesting, and she loves finding the story everywhere she goes. Her passion is discovering people and places that have gone unnoticed and bringing light to what makes them unique. Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines
"A vast, blue glacier that you can approach to stand at its foot; it is in fact just one of the six 'toes' of the Columbia Icefield, the largest icefield in the Rocky Mountains. Visible from the Icefields Parkway, it provides a visceral sense of scale and is a major winter and year-round attraction along the drive." - Evie Carrick Evie Carrick Evie Carrick is a writer and editor who’s lived in five countries and visited well over 50. She now splits her time between Colorado and Paris, ensuring she doesn't have to live without skiing or L'As du Fallafel. Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines
"A glacier within the national park noted in the text as "shrinking"; it can be easily visited from the route and sits among nearby glacier-fed alpine lakes." - Evie Carrick Evie Carrick Evie Carrick is a writer and editor who’s lived in five countries and visited well over 50. She now splits her time between Colorado and Paris, ensuring she doesn't have to live without skiing or L'As du Fallafel. Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines
"Take a Walk on a Glacier A fun stop if you're driving the Icefields Parkway through the Canadian Rockies. You join a group and climb aboard these huge custom-made vehicles (the wheels alone are probably six feet tall) that take you up onto a glacier. You get great views and you can scoop up glacier water to drink. It's not strenuous—you just get out and walk around on the snow and ice for a while—but it is cold and windy. It gives you an appreciation of the landscape-shaping power of glaciers. And of ginormous truck-transporter-vehicle things."
"The Columbia Icefield is one of the largest masses of ice south of the Arctic Circle, an otherworldly expanse straddling the Continental Divide. You can get on the ice in two ways: Take the Brewster tour company's Ice Explorer snow coach (a massive four-wheel-drive vehicle), or climb the toe of the glacier with Athabasca Glacier Icewalks, a company specializing in half-day and full-day strolls toward the perfect photo op. The trek over the ice is easy enough for most families to do, and the sensation of gliding on top of a glacier borders on the spiritual. Get lucky, and your guide will let you check out a glacier crevasse up close."
