Jasper

Updated: Apr 20, 2022

Largest icefield in North America - Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks 304

What and Why

The largest of the Canadian Rock Mountain Parks, Jasper National Park is famous for its spectacular ice fields scattered around spectacularly scenic mountains, gorges, waterfalls and lakes. The park is also renowned for being home to large varieties of wild animals, including elk, caribou, moose, lynx, beaver, marten, grizzly bear, coyote and wolverine.

Toponymy

Jasper was named after Jasper Hawes, who operated a fur trading post in the region.

See

Jasper National Park is just north of the Banff National Park, and is connected through the same main trunk road, known as the Icefields Parkway, end to end. We shall go from south to north following this road, following the earlier blog on Banff. This 230-km stretch of the road is often described as one of the most spectacular scenic drives in the world.

Columbia Icefield

The Columbia Icefield is the largest ice field in North America's Rocky Mountains, which is more than 300 km2 in area. The Columbia Icefields has several glaciers, but the main one, Athabasca Glacier, as the main picture above, is easily accessible and most visible from the highway and visitor centre. One can access to the tip of the glacier as above where there is a parking lot.

Apparently the signage in the visitor centre says that the area receives more than 10 m of snow every year, until recently when climate change strikes when substantial recession of the glacier is observed.. There are several guided tours that will bring one to the centre of the glacier with snowcoaches, but it does cost a whopping bomb at almost CAD $100 per person for a two-hour journey, although you do step in the smack of the glacier!

The ice field is also located along the Continental Divide of the Americas: we have been to one in Yellowstone - Lower loop.

Apparently there is a cliff-edge glass-walkway somewhere now. No interest for artificiality in this beautiful natural scenery.

Athabasca Falls

Famous not for its height, but rather the sheer roaring volume of water flowing down, Athabasca Falls can be accessed easily around with many well-managed walkways.

Maligne Canyon and Lake

Similar to the lakes in the Banff National Park, Maligne Lake is famous for its bluish water and is one of the best photospots of the park. The name of the lake and the river refers to the wickedness and danger of the water currents along the waterfalls and rivers.

The Maligne River that feeds into the lake cuts through the rock formations and forms an exciting canyon-walk with spectacular blue waterfalls. We went during summer but apparently these waterfalls freeze and render the canyon white-walled, which becomes a stunning scenery.

Medicine Lake

Along the river one will also reach the Medicine Lake, which strictly speaking is not a lake but a watershed, where the water suddenly goes underground and disappears as a losing stream.

Jasper

Jasper is a small town, similar to Banff with an Alpine feel. No disrespect, not worth a long visit.

Getting There and Around

As mentioned above, the Icefields Parkway is a very scenic drive and is an absolute joy to drive along. You will be cutting through mountains, lakes, glaciers, canyons, you name it.

Along this highway and together with the stretch along the Banff National Park, there are flyovers, not for humans, but for the wild animals to cross from one side to the other.

There are loads of reports about sightings of bears around Jasper. Jasper can be explored in two days with a brief visit and is just an hour away from Banff. With the ticket from Banff National Park, entry to Jasper National Park is free, otherwise it is $10 per person.