Things to do on the Icefields Parkway

The Icefields Parkway (Highway 93 North) runs 232 km between Lake Louise and Jasper and is regularly ranked among the world's great drives.

5 hours without stopping is unrealistic for a first visit: with photo stops at Peyto Lake, Bow Lake, Crowfoot Glacier, Mistaya Canyon and the Columbia Icefield, most travellers need a full day, and many overnight in Jasper rather than attempting a same-day return to Banff.

A Parks Canada pass is compulsory even for a straight drive-through, roughly 11 CAD per adult per day or 22 CAD per vehicle. Fill up before leaving: there is no fuel between Saskatchewan River Crossing, open seasonally only, and Jasper, and mobile coverage is patchy for most of the route. This page is a chapter guide to the stops covered in full elsewhere.