June 13, 2025 - Driving to Alaska
Lake Louise to Jasper
Icefields Parkway -  Part One
This morning we checked out of the Lake Louise Inn and headed north.  After a few minutes on the road, the Trans-Canada Highway turned west into Yoho NP.  But we continued north on Highway 93, also known as the Icefields Parkway.  It would be 140 miles to Jasper on what is considered one of the world’s most beautiful drives.   Yes it is!
   

The Icefields Parkway parallels the Continental Divide, traversing the rugged landscape of the Canadian Rockies, travelling through Banff National Park and Jasper National Park

The Icefields Parkway was predated by the Wonder Trail, which opened in 1885 after the Canadian Pacific Railway was completed and brought increased tourist traffic to Banff National Park. It followed the route that geologist Arthur Philemon Coleman took following the Sunwapta river. In 1931, the federal government commissioned the construction of a single-track road between Lake Louise and Jasper in the Great Depression as a relief project.

In 1961, a reconstructed paved and modern highway was opened,  The parkway is mainly two lanes with occasional passing lanes.
   
The parkway is busy in July and August with up to 100,000 vehicles a month.  a Canadian national parks permit is required to travel on the Icefields Parkway.  Commercial trucks are prohibited.  There is no cell coverage.
   
Our first stop was to look at Bow Lake, the closest lake to the headwaters of Bow River.
   
Bow Lake.
   
 
   
 
   
The low broken cloud cover really adds to the picture.
   
Our next stop was the amzingly bright blue Peyto Lake.
   
 
   
 
   
We saw a number of people dressed to the nines.  Don't usually see that hiking.  Clearly a wedding party.
   
Pretty.
   
The lake is glacier fed.
   
Next we stopped at the Howse Pass Viewpoint.
   
From here waters flow east via the North Saskatchewan River to Lake Winnipeg and Hudson Bay. To the west it drains by the Blaeberry River to the Columbia River and on to the Pacific Ocean.
   
 
   
From here also, Highway 11 branches east off Highway 93 and follows the North Saskatchewan River out of the Rockies, eventually reaching  Rocky Mountain House.
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
Continuing northwest.
   
Driving alongside Rampart Creek.
   
 
   
Up ahead is Parker's Ridge.
   
We climb a decent grade and part at the overlook.
   
Looking down at the way we just came.
   
 
   
 
   
Looking northeast at Panther Falls.
   
 
   
 
   
On the road again.  We're higher now, as evidenced by all the snow.
   
 
   
 
   
We stop briefly at the Parker Ridge trailhead.  Looks like a nice trail.  Too bad we don't have time for hiking today.
   
 
   
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