July 16, 2025
It was 62 degrees and cloudy as we left Hinton, AB. Today we are driving to the Columbia Ice Field and hope to spend the night again at the Icefield Centre.
At Jasper, we began our drive on the Icefields Parkway. The Icefields Parkway is the quintessential “Canadian Rockies Scenic Drive.” The 150 miles of Canada’s most dramatic Rocky Mountain scenery is touted to be one of the world’s top scenic drives. And they aren’t kidding!
The Columbia Ice field is by far the most touristic and arguably most famous stop along the Icefields Parkway.
We arrived at the Icefield Centre RV Parking area and were a little surprised to find that the parking lot was full. We drove through the lot searching for an empty space but nothing was open. This time the lot was full of RV’s and cars. Hmmm…it is suppose to be RV parking only! As we made the circle through the lot about 10 more RV’s entered, so, there was no way we wanted to wait for something to open up. Since, we stayed here just a few weeks ago, we decided to drive on to Lake Louise. So, we will get to drive the entire length of the IceField Parkway today!
As we continued on, we noticed and commented on there was significantly more traffic on the road than we experienced a few weeks ago. More traffic leads to more congestion at the roadway sights. Most pull-outs were packed with cars and smaller RV’s.
After the Columbia Glacier, the highlights for me today were the the Weeping Wall, and Bow Lake.
Weeping Wall – The Weeping Wall is approximately 305 meters (1000 ft) high. This set of cliffs got its name from the small cascading waterfalls coming down the rocks. tiny waterfalls trickle down the cliff face, making it appear like the mountain is crying.
Bow Lake – One of the biggest and most popular scenic pullouts is at Bow Lake. The lake is one of the largest in the park and is fed by the Sunwapta Ice Field’s Bow Glacier meltwater. Bow Lake’s water has a stunning green-blue color, as is the case with all glacial lakes in Banff National Park.
Of course, we saw many any other stunning sights along the way. It was a beautiful day to drive through the Canadian Rockies and witness the beauty of mountains, lakes, waterfalls, glaciers, forests, and canyons of Jasper and Banff National Parks. Window photography does not begin to capture the beauty!
We made it to the Lake Lousie overflow parking lot and just like last time, it was practically empty! We selected the same spot we had before and settled in for two nights.
Parks Canada is offering free park admission and discounted overnight stays this summer. That was a big benefit to us!
Note: We did not go to Lake Louise on this trip. In order to see Lake Louise you either have to take a bus or get up early and be at the parking lot by 5:30 AM. We have seen Lake Louise when it was snow covered and also on a beautiful day. We opted to pass this time.
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