Our 6th day in Canada involved driving 250km from Lake Louise to Jasper along the Icefields Parkway. This has been said to be one of the most scenic drives in the world and so was something to really look forward to.
Following the Bow River, the Icefields Parkway meanders through the valleys passing a huge amount of water based attractions and viewpoints and so involved constantly stopping at the side of the road to take in the surroundings.
Starting in Banff National Park, we entered Jasper National Park after around 50km however there was no noticeable difference in scenery from one park to the next.
The first stop on our route was at 9am, grabbing some supplies and lunch from the local supermarket in Lake Louise village. From the Post Hotel where we were staying this passed a beautiful section of the river which wrapped around the hotel.
With lunch sorted we set off and quickly came across the first location, Herbert Lake.
Of all the lakes we had seen so far this one was actually pretty disappointing. There wasn’t really much to see here and it just wasn’t very scenic.
Having spent about 2 minutes here we jumped back in the car and continued down the road making a quick stop to take a look at a glacier.
Further down the road we arrived at one of the best lakes of the day – Bow Lake, overlooked by Bow Glacier Falls.
After a few hours we arrived at the famous Peyto lake offering water so blue it doesn’t look real!
Our next stop was Mistaya Canyon where we hiked a short distance down to the waterfall and sat on the rocks to rest and eat lunch. The water was so powerful and fast here that it was deafening!
Next up was the Athabasca Glacier. As it’s such a unique spot we tried to do a bus tour onto the glacier itself however it was fully booked so we settled for hiking up to the toe of the glacier instead. This was still an incredibly impressive sight.
From here the water based attractions just kept on coming! Further along the route from the glacier we came across another waterfall.
And a little bit further along, we reached the Sunwapta Falls!
And then finally we made it to the Athabasca Falls which presented a terrifying amount of raw power.
We then left the Athabasca Falls and made our way to the Fairmont hotel where we’re staying, just outside of Jasper and had some dinner.
And that was Day 6! It was a day of less hiking than previous days but completely packed with things to see from countless lakes to waterfalls. The route was definitely stunning however there was a load of cloud and smoke filling the valleys and so a lot of the views were restricted. At the halfway point of the trip I’m absolutely loving Canada.
Let’s see what day 7 brings.
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