The Rocky Mountains have all three things required for beautiful and bountiful waterfalls - Water, heights and ...rock. Being the source of four major rivers, the National Parks of the Canadian Rocky mountains have hundreds of waterfalls. These are some of the more famous ones in Alberta on what makes up the upper Athabasca-Peace-MacKenzie river system, Canada's longest river.
Not far from the town of Jasper on route 93 the 'Icefields Pkwy' are the Athabasca Falls. These are one of the most impressive waterfalls in Alberta and would make it in any top five Alberta Waterfall list. Mount Kerkeslin directly behind the falls makes for a fantastic photo opportunity.
During weekends in the Summer it can get quite crowded here, there are tourist busses and a parking lot for hundreds of cars. They fenced off most of the falls and the gorge as you would not want to go over the edge here. These photos were taken in early July over the Canada day long weekend.
We went going camping for the weekend nearby at Wabasso Campground, it's nice because the river drowns out any noise from cars or other campers. It doesn't get dark until late here around during the summer solstice since your 52.5 degrees above the equator, this allows one to make the most of their days.
Since these falls are in a National Park and are quite remote there is no hydro electricity being generated or dams. The river is as wild as nature intended. Tourism is more profitable than dams- Banff and Jasper are some of the only parks in Canada that generate money to support themselves and other conservation efforts.
The Icefields highway is an incredibly beautiful drive, I've posted about it before. It follows one river up to its source at the Columbian Icefields then down another river valley which is also sourced from the same icecaps. There isn't much along the way except nature and a single gas station between Lake Louise and Jasper, a two-hundred and thirty kilometer drive.
You are surrounded by mountains and during the height of the Summer the roads are great. During the Winter you should have Winter tires and all wheel drive at the least, however chains and four wheel drive are recommended. Personally, I wouldn't bother. You can see snow and ice in the Summer too.
This viewing platform is a popular stop, it's called the Columbia Icefield Skywalk. One of those glass bottom things that goes over the edge of the cliff. You can get a good enough view from the road, there are many scenic view places to pull over that are free and don't require a shuttle bus.
When one goes from the cliff above to the flats below, you get the idea that the water has to go down too. That's why there are so many waterfalls here. The road frequently gets washed out during the spring melt, avalanches or a heavy rainfall. Those boulders didn't spontaneously appear-another reason why I wouldn't bother driving here in the Winter or early Spring.
Here are rapids by Sunwapta Falls. It's between the Sky Walk and Athabasca Falls. The river here has significantly less volume as it is a branch of the Athabasca River and further upstream at that.
The rocks in the middle would make this one another challenge to get down in a kayak. Something that would likely end up being your last weekend experience.
We prefer walking around and taking photos of nature to extreme sports. Although someday I'd like to get back into white water kayaking but on a slightly more peaceful section of the river. Thank you for reading.
All photos taken with an s22 or iphone 13 pro
