The Columbia Icefields is the is the largest ice mass in Subarctic North America and is also the most accessible glacier in North America. The mighty Athabasca Glacier can be seen from the Icefield Parkway and it is just a short hike (or snow coach ride) to the glacier itself.
   You have an excellent view of the glacier from the parking lot of the Columbia Icefields Chalet. There is an even better view from the hill above the chalet where you can include the red-roofed chalet in your photos for a bit of color. From either location you have a view of two glaciers. The huge Athabasca Glacier is flanked by Mount Athabasca and Snow Dome and to the right the smaller Dome Glacier runs between Snow Dome and Mount Kitchner.
   Just off the Parkway is Athabasca Glacier Interpretive Centre where you can obtain more information.

Hikes in the Icefields Area
   You will find better photo opportunities if you hike to the glacier. Guided hikes are conducted from June through August--check at the Interpretive Centre. Walking on a glacier can be quite dangerous, so if you want to actually walk on the glacier, you should go with a tour. However, the best scenic views are on the walk down to the glacier toe.

Glacier Trail
   The Glacier Trail begins at the upper parking lot just across the Icefields Parkway from the Interpretive Centre. This is a moderate, one-mile round-trip hike that descends through the rubble left by the glacier. It is a desolate-looking landscape. There is a shorter trail from the lower parking area next to Sunwapa lake that is just over a half-mile round-trip, but the longer trail gives you better photo vantage points

Wilcox Pass Trail
   There are even better views of the glacier from the Wilcox Pass Trail. This trail begins at the Wilcox Pass Campground, 1.5 miles south of of the Interpretive Centre east of the Parkway. The first part of the trail is steep and you are among trees. Soon the views open up and you can look directly across the valley from a high vantage point to spectacular views of the glacier surrounded by mountains. Below you is the red-roofed Icefield Chalet. After you have taken photos of this breathtaking view, you can continue on this fairly level trail through meadows ( with subalpine wildflowers during the summer) to the pass. From the pass you can climb a ridge to another fantastic (and classic) view of the glacier set in the mountain-framed valley. The trail continues but this is probably as far as you will want to go. After the pass the trail drops out of view of the glaciers. However, you may encounter wildlife along this trail, especially bighorn sheep.

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