The Columbia Icefields & Jasper National Park

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The largest accumulation of ice south of the Arctic Circle, straddling two Canadian National Parks and two provinces, and with meltwaters flowing into the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic oceans, the Columbia Ice Field is immense! Named for the mighty glaciers that flank its west side, the 143 miles between Lake Louise and Jasper offers some of the most spectacular scenery on this continent.

The huge and accessible mass of ice is 125 square miles, has 8 glaciers, 3 of which can be seen from the highway. Guided tours on the Ice Explorer, a large bus like machine with snow cat type tires, takes you to the glaciers for a walk on the ice if you desire. You can hire a helicopter to fly you to the top of the mountain and ski or ice walk down the face of the glacier. There were ice walkers making a descent while we were there. The ice is over 1,000 feet thick in some places and is over 500 years old. There is also a great threat of avalanche in this area as the ice is currently covered in snow. There is a visitor center containing restaurants, museums and a hotel here in the area.

The drive from Lake Louise to the icefields was one of the most beautiful drives we have ever taken. You must put this on your bucket list.

The Athabasca river and lake form part of the MacKenzie River system. The Athabasca River is 770 miles long, begins in Jasper National park in southwestern Alberta. Its source is the Columbia Icefields, high in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The river flows northeast across Alberta and empties through a shallow delta into Lake Athabasca in northeastern Alberta. The river was once used by fur traders.
Lake Athabasca, which straddles the Alberta- Saskatchewan border is 210 miles long and covers 3,060 square miles. Today, Lake Athabasca is used for commercial fishing. Large deposits of petroleum-bearing sand are located along the lower part of the river. Long known but untapped because of high extraction costs, the deposits are now mined using new technology and efficient methods. In 1994 the output amounted to one-quarter of Canada's crude oil production.

Should you come to Canada, you owe it to yourself to visit this area. It is simply magnificent!

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Photos

Part of Athabasca Lake and River
Beautiful - Simply Beautiful !

The Columbian Icefields
If you look closely, the tiny pepper like black dots in the snow near the top are actually the buses taking ice walkers up the mountain.