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The only ride in my Top 10 not in the US is Canada’s Icefields Parkway. I’ve ridden this beautiful road twice, in 2015 and 2022. My Seattle friend, Randy Suhr, was along for both of those journeys,

The Icefields Parkway is entirely within the Canadian province of Alberta, starting in Jasper and ending in Lake Louise. It’s 145 miles of spectacular.

The story of the Icefields Parkway began 50 million years ago. Fierce tectonic forces pushed the ocean floor and transformed it into the mountains that today make up the Canadian Rockies.

By the end of the 19^th century, the Canadian Pacific Railway responded to the growing interest in mountaineering in the Rockies by giving seasonal contracts to Swiss guides. They led mountaineers and tourists in explorations of the area. Meanwhile, to the north, tourism in the region was also gathering momentum with the establishment of Jasper National Park in 1907 and the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway reaching Jasper in 1911.

As an economic project during the Depression Era, the Government of Canada decided to transform what was then known as the “Wonder Trail” into a single-track road. In 1931, construction began for the Icefields Highway: a new road that would make the famous mountain path accessible to everyone.

It took 600 men and nearly 10 years to complete the project. Workers were paid about $5 a month with a stipend for clothing and tobacco. With only one tractor per crew, most of the work was completed by hand, and with teams of horses.

At first, the 18-foot-wide road was gravel and dirt, before being paved, realigned, and modernized in 1961.

The road, the first in the world that could take people to the toe of a glacier, was completed in 1940. The highway was the brainchild of Arthur Oliver Wheeler, the principal land surveyor in charge of plotting the border between Alberta and British Columbia in the early 1900s.

You’ll follow the Athabasca River from Jasper, south and east on the Icefields Parkway. The Athabasca River runs some 765 miles from the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park, northeast to Lake Athabasca in northern Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Twenty miles out of Jasper, you’ll find Athabasca Falls, just off the parkway. From the roadside parking lot, it’s a short hike to the falls — and well worth the effort. A series of short and easy pathways take visitors along these impressive cascades and up close to the roaring falls themselves.

Athabasca Falls is about 75 feet high, not much compared to other more famous waterfalls, but it’s very powerful, due to the sheer volume of water flowing into the gorge from the Athabasca River, fed by the massive Columbia Icefield.

Only 15 miles past Athabasca Falls, we come to Sunwapta Falls. With a drop of 61 feet, Sunwapta Falls consists of an upper and lower fall with a hike that will get you close enough to feel the mist. It’s a Class 6 waterfall, meaning it’s unrunnable, and you’re likely to die if you try.

The Columbia Icefield, composed of eight glaciers and encompassing an area of about 125 square miles, sits near the halfway mark on the Icefields Parkway.  This ice mass is one of the largest south of the Arctic Circle and is one of the most reachable in North America.  The Athabasca, Snowdome, and Stutfield Glaciers can be seen from the parkway.

The Athabasca Glacier is a 10,000-year-old sheet of ice, nearly four miles long, and up top 1,000 feet thick. The glacier has lost 60 percent of its volume in the last 170 years, and experts believe it will be completely gone within 70 years. The Athabasca Glacier is receding about 16 feet a year.

Commercial tours are available to run tourists up the glacier in the summer. The three-hour round-trip costs about $90.

You cross the Saskatchewan River, then arrive at Bow Summit, at 6,840 feet. It’s the highest point on the drive from Banff to Jasper and the highest elevation crossed by a public road in Canada. Bow Summit, in Banff National Park, provides a stunning overlook of the Bow Valley.

From here, you’re only 20 miles from Lake Louise, world famous for its turquoise lakes, the Victoria Glacier, spectacular mountains, a world-class ski resort and a palatial hotel.

On my 2015 Icefields Parkway ride, Randy and I rode 35 miles past Louise and stayed in Banff. In 2022, Randy, Dave, Jim and I rode 15 miles past Banff to the town of Canmore, and overnighted there.

Both locations have many comfortable places to stay, and to eat. Best yet, you’ll never be far away from a Tim Horton’s, best budget coffee and donuts in Canada.

To explore this route, click here.