Athabasca Glacier: A Guided Glacier Walk in the Canadian Rockies

Looking for more to explore along the Icefields Parkway?
Try a gorgeous hike to Parker Ridge or Stanley Falls. For a longer stay, Silverhorn Creek Campground is the perfect home base.

CURRENT INFO

Find more information about guided walks on the Athabasca Glacier and book your visit online with IceWalks. Planning a trip to the Canadian Rockies? I recommend the Moon Canadian Rockies guidebook by Andrew Hempstead. For the most up-to-date information, be sure to visit the Jasper National Park website with Parks Canada.

GOOD TO KNOW

• Guided walks on the Athabasca Glacier are led by IceWalks. In addition to the 5 km, half day walk we took, they offer full day tours, Indigenous led tours, and custom tours. We highly recommend the experience. Book well in advance — tours fill up!
• Guided tours with IceWalks start at $126.99 CDN for adults and $66.30 CDN for kids age seven to 17, plus 5% tax.
• You will be instructed where to park when you book your tour. For the half day tour, we parked at the parking lot closest to the toe of the Athabasca Glacier.
• All visitors must pay the national park entrance fee or have a valid annual Parks Canada Discovery Pass to drive the Icefields Parkway. Check the Jasper National Park website for current information.
• Vault toilets are available at the Athabasca Glacier trailhead and the Jasper National Park Icefield Information Centre.
• The walk out onto the glacier is uphill, and the route is rocky and slippery. IceWalks guides make frequent stops to explain what you’re seeing and give everyone a chance to rest, but it can still feel strenuous, especially at an elevation of around 8,000 feet.
• If you want to experience what it’s like to stand on a glacier without a strenuous walk, consider booking a Columbia Icefield Adventure tour. Groups drive onto Athabasca Glacier in a giant ice explorer, and are given the opportunity to walk on the glacier.
• Wear waterproof or water resistant shoes or hiking boots with good traction. IceWalks provides microspikes to wear over your boots, but you still need good footgear.
• Hiking poles are not required, but may be useful for some.
• Layer up! Bring waterproof outer layers (snow or rain gear, depending on the weather), hats, and gloves. Sunglasses and sunscreen are essential on a clear (or even partially clear) day.
• Always follow Leave No Trace principles.

HIGHLIGHTS

There aren’t many glaciers in the U.S. and Canada as easily accessible as Athabasca Glacier. Joining an ice walk while visiting Jasper National Park is an incredible way to experience these magnificent rivers of ice up close and gain a greater understanding of their sheer scale and scope. It’s also a poignant illustration of climate change and a visual record of how rapidly this unique environment is changing.

THE KIDS’ TAKE

Getting to walk across a giant glacier is a pretty cool experience at any age. We got to wear microspikes, peer down a mysterious glacier mill, and see the remnants of million-year-old snowflakes. And do a little ice climbing… OK maybe not that last part, but we did get a fun photo!

We’re grateful that IceWalks allowed us to postpone our tour by one day when the weather turned out to be particularly nasty on the day our walk was originally scheduled. What a difference a day makes! They also allowed us to move from a full day tour to a half day tour and refunded the difference. With our seven-year-old, the shorter tour was definitely the better choice. The staff at IceWalks want kids to have a good experience on the glacier, and it shows.

Taking a guided walk is a safe and engaging way to get out on the ice, and you just might learn something along the way. Our guide was wonderful, and although the experience is not cheap, it’s truly unforgettable.

WHILE YOU’RE HERE

There are so many wonderful stops along the Icefields Parkway in Jasper National Park that I don’t have room to mention them all, but here are some great ideas to get you started. North of the Athabasca Glacier, the hike along Beauty Creek to Stanley Falls is a winner. We did it the same day as our glacier tour with IceWalks. Be sure to stop by Tangle Creek Falls on the way. If you’re lucky, you may spot some bighorn sheep lounging on the rocks.

Across the road from the Athabasca Glacier, the Jasper National Park Icefield Information Centre features informative exhibits and washrooms with flush toilets. They also offer a Starbucks, restaurant, and gift shop. This is where the Columbia Icefield Adventure tours meet, driving large groups of tourists onto the glacier in a giant ice explorer bus.

South of the Athabasca Glacier, the Parker Ridge hike leads up a series of switchbacks to fantastic views of the Saskatchewan Glacier. Further south in Banff National Park you’ll find Silverhorn Creek Campground. This beautiful campground was our home for three nights, and is a great location from which to explore the region.

It was a relief to catch a glimpse of blue sky as we drove north from Silverhorn Creek Campground along the Icefields Parkway. More than a glimpse, in fact — that patch of blue was rapidly expanding. A few miles before the Columbia Icefield Information Centre, we were in for another treat when we spotted a mother grizzly bear with her two cubs along the side of the road. No doubt about it, the day was off to a great start.

The sunny weather was especially welcome after the foreboding thunderstorms of the previous day. In fact, our tour with IceWalks had originally been scheduled for that dreary day. We dutifully drove up to the Information Centre under menacingly dark clouds, but were relieved when one of the IceWalks guides suggested we reschedule for the following morning. We could even do the shorter, half-day walk and receive a refund for the difference in cost. The decision to postpone had definitely been the right call.

We parked near the toe of the Athabasca Glacier where we met our guide and the rest of our group. Despite the sun, the air was chilly, and we layered up with jackets, rain pants, hats, and gloves, then slathered sunscreen across our faces. Before heading up to the glacier, the guide handed us each a pair of microspikes.

The path started out rocky as we crossed the rubble left behind by the receding glacier. This section follows a public trail, but as we reached the edge of the glacier, a sign warned visitors not to venture further without a guide. Naturally, we felt a little smug, knowing we had made the right choice to join a tour.

In all seriousness, there are many visitors who do head blithely onto the glacier unassisted. “Flipfloppers,” our guide called the ones who didn’t even bother with proper footgear. It’s good to note that at this point along the walk we were already traversing the glacier. Sure, it was covered by a layer of rock, but below that thin coating was solid ice.

Or, in some cases, not so solid ice. Take the wrong path, and you could find yourself sliding down a rocky slope into a muddy glacial pond. As areas become unstable, the guides frequently create safe new routes through the rocks and attempt to block off the old ones, but someone without this insider knowledge could easily stumble across an older, unsafe route.

Our group climbed the current pathway up the moraine. Along the way, our guide stopped to share information about the geology around us. Take moraines, for example. A moraine is a ridge or mound of glacial sediment formed as a glacier retreats. We had a good view of the lateral moraines that flanked each side of the Athabasca Glacier as we walked, and an even better view of the stunning peaks of the Canadian Rockies above.

The guide also pointed out a fossil within the rocks. The limestone that forms the Canadian Rockies once lay underwater, and as a result the remains of many tiny sea creatures are imbedded in the stone.

At last, it was time to step out onto the ice. Not the rock-strewn moraine, but the pure white dome of the Athabasca Glacier as it flowed down the valley from the great Columbia Icefield. A makeshift bridge crossing a stream of glacial meltwater led us onto the mighty glacier.

OK, OK… so it wasn’t pure white. Nor was it exactly smooth. The rain from the previous day had riddled the surface of the glacier with tiny holes flecked with brown glacial silt. Still, it was fascinating, and as we walked further up the glacier the whiteness grew more and more dazzling.

Small streams of pale blue water ribboned their way across the ice. Ahead, we saw that jagged icefall that marked the spot where the Athabasca Glacier flows down from the Columbia Icefield. This massive icefield is the largest in the Canadian Rockies. Situated on the Continental Divide, it feeds into the Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Athabasca Rivers, whose waters eventually flow into the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic Oceans.

On a much smaller scale, we noticed a few cones of dirt dotting the surface of the ice. Our guides asked if anyone in the group knew how snowflakes were formed — and I was a little surprised to learn that my seven-year-old did!

“Water condenses around a small piece of dirt and freezes into crystals,” he said confidently. Maybe he didn’t actually say the word “condenses”, but he came pretty close. The point is, there’s a tiny speck of dirt in the middle of every snowflake, and these dirt cones are made of the remnants of millions of former snowflakes as the ice crystals slowly melted away. This sediment provides a protective layer preventing the ice underneath from melting.

Our final destination on the Athabasca Glacier was a moulin, also known as a glacier mill. A moulin forms a nearly vertical tunnel into the depths of the glacier, sometimes leading all the way to the base. They’re formed by glacial meltwater as it follows the path of least resistance, carving an escape route deep into the ice. Our IceWalks guide helped us safely get a closer look, although I admit I was too scared of dropping my phone to get a good shot!

After checking out the moulin, it was time to head back. The return trip was much faster as we made our way downhill without many more stops. We crossed the bridge at the edge of the glacier once more, and removed our microspikes for the final rocky trek down to the parking lot.

Back at our car, we thanked our guide for an incredible experience and peeled off our outer layers. Believe it or not, the weather was almost warm if you stood directly in the sun! Our tour with IceWalks was one of the biggest highlights of our two-week trip in the Canadian Rockies, and we couldn’t have wished for a better day to enjoy it.