One of the best drives in the world is found in Alberta, Canada along the Icefields Parkway. Lined with Glaciers, forests and mountains as far as the eye can see, this is a daunting drive for all but a few months in the summer. It should be on every adventurer's to do list.
Careful not to drive off a cliff when taking in the views. This photo was taken in mid September and you can see the mountains are permanantly capped with snow. Big Hill & Big Bend is pictured above and Bow Lake, the headwaters of the River which flows through Banff and Calgary is below.
The colours of the lakes which line the highway are unbelieveably pretty and get their tint from minerals. These are headwaters so they are incredibly clean, but also incredibly chilly even on a hot late summer's day.
Most of the year you need winter tires to drive on these roads. Highway 93 also requires a Parks Canada Pass to drive on since there is very little reason to be on this road except for tourism. Gas up before you go as there isn't much asides from nature along the way.
This animal overpass, made so critters can cross the highway without getting smushed is in Banff Park along the main Trans Canada Highway. The speed limits along the Icefield Highway are slower and the traffic is far lighter, so they don't fence off the roads there. We surprisingly didn't see much animals that day, it must have been too hot.
These pictures were mostly taken from the car from either an S20 or iphone 14. We would often stop to take photos and get out but this is more of a driving blog. Instead of annoying you and describing all the photos, I'll leave you to enjoy the amazing scenery as we did.
The last photo here is of the famous Columbian Icefield, it used to stretch to the highway but has since retreated into the mountains. It was the reason why we drove along this road. I wanted to see the glaciers before they melted. Bring a jacket if you are going there as it can get cold, even on the hottest of days.
Thank you for joining us on this once in a lifetime journey down the Icefields Parkway. Hope to go back soon. We try to go to the mountains every weekend but this was a lot of driving for one day as it is over a 3 hour drive from Calgary. Going to save it for the summer as it's not fun driving through the mountains in a blizzard.
