The first riding day on Cycle Canada's Icefields Parkway Tour starts in Jasper, an historic Rocky Mountain townsite in Jasper National Park.
Heading southeast from Jasper we're on the world-renowned Icefields Parkway, a route that follows the Continental Divide along the spine of the Rockies. The many glaciers along this route are the headwaters of rivers that flow east to empty into the Arctic Ocean and west to the Pacific.
We will follow the Athabasca and Sunwapta Rivers past the point where the Sunwapta drops into a deep canyon to create Sunwapta Falls. Day two takes you past the Columbia Icefields, a spectacular 325-square-kilometre cluster of eight glaciers.
You will then cross into Banff National Park and make your way to Saskatchewan River Crossing, known simply as The Crossing. It was a place where explorers and fur traders could ford the river with mule trains headed for British Columbia. Near here, the waters of the Howse, Mistaya North Saskatchewan Rivers meet. In Banff National Park, our route travels through the Mistaya River valley. There is an optional short side trip to Mistaya Canyon, where the river has sculpted circular pot-holes in the canyon walls.
From this point you will soon reach the highest point of the Parkway — the Bow Summit at 2,056 metres. We stay overnight in Lake Louise, known for its historic Chateau by the lake. Moraine Lake, considered a tiny wonder of the Rockies, is another optional 15 km side trip.
After Lake Louise we follow the Bow River to Banff and down through the foothills to Calgary.
