Family Travel: Columbia Icefield Glacier Adventure
Our family trip to the Canadian Rocky Mountains started with a scenic drive to the Jasper area. Our destination: take a tour on the Columbia Icefield Glacier Adventure. The last time I had gone to the Columbia Icefields was 13 years ago, and the rest of my family have never been. We knew it would be ‘pretty’ considering the location, yet we never imagined just how educational and awe-inspiring it would be.
Situated on the boundary of Banff and Jasper National Parks, tours depart every 15-30 minutes from the Columbia Icefield Discovery Centre on the Icefields Parkway. You take the Ice Explorer across the highway and make your way to the icefield. Along the way, there was the best tour guide that explained the history of the area, right down to the Ice Explorer itself.
These HUGE vehicles {called Ice Explorers} travel at 18km/hr, and were specially made in Calgary. Of the 23 of them made, 22 are used at the icefields. The other is used in Antarctica by scientists. Comfortable seating and huge windows allows for you to see everything around you during the short drive.
One part which had me biting my nails, was driving down a steep incline to get the the icefields. The Ice Explorer tackles the nerve-wracking 32% grade down {and up on the way back} like a boss considering it’s the 2nd steepest unpaved grade incline in all of North America. Of course my kids thought this part of the drive was ‘so cool’, hubby and I shot each other a few nervous glances. Yet, I have to admit to saying ‘again, again!’ after it was over.
The Ice Explorer is made to inflict the least damage possible on the icefields, even driving through glacier water to clean the tires, so that dirt and foreign material doesn’t make it’s way to the site.
Once the Ice Explorer reaches its destination, you are in the middle of the glacier, one of the largest accumulations of ice and snow south of the Arctic Circle. What you see is actually 3 glaciers: Athabasca, Dome, and Stutfield. A global marvel in itself, this is the site of the only glaciers in the world that feed into the Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific oceans. It’s all exceptionally beautiful!
One of the glaciers, the Athabasca Glacier, was formed during the ice age. This glacier is 5km long, 1km wide and a whopping 500 meters deep. The ice at the surface is 1,000-2,000 years old! While you don’t know it of course, the ice actually shifts 1cm while you at there, standing on it.
Tip: bring a water bottle with you! If you choose the exit the Ice Explorer and explore the glacier, there’s a river of pure glacier water which you are free to drink. You can tell glacier water by the pure brilliant blue colour.
The water is freezing cold and refreshing, the best water I have ever drank. We just cupped some in our hands, yet many had their own bottles to fill. That was our only regret on this trip, I could have sipped this water all day long.
The day we took the Columbia Icefield Glacier Adventure tour, it was a 30+ Summer day. Our tour guide said that it was most likely the warmest day he’s ever seen in in the area. It was completely odd to be standing in snow and ice on such a hot day. I really do wish I had the option of driving down the hill in the Winter to escape Canadian snow!
The Columbia Icefield Glacier Adventure tours run through April-Oct only, since snowfall is heavy during the Winter months. The area averages about 10 meters of snow annually, so the site is completely closed during the Winter. Also to note for families, kids 5 and under are free to take this tour!
If you want to walk on glaciers that date back to the ice age and see this beauty in person, make those plans now. Due to global warming, it’s sad to report that these glaciers might not be here in 80 years time. If you can, take this adventure tour and bask in the beauty sooner rather than later.
** For pricing and more information on the Columbia Icefield Glacier Adventure, please visit the Explore Rockies website. It’s THE site for all the great attractions and activities for this tour and for other family-friendly things to do in the Banff and Jasper area.
My family received complimentary tour passes to facilitate this travel article. All opinions are 100% our own.
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what an amazing trip–the pictures are just breath-taking! WOW!! those are also so pretty BIG tires!! LOL you kids are beautiful! thanks for sharing
Thank you Kathleen, spectacular photos at every turn!
Wow, I want to drink glacier water!
So good. words cannot even describe …
I was at that exact same spot in 2005! It was our first trip to a glacier. I was amazed at how cold it was despite it being in the middle of summer.
Oh, nice! Time for another trip Stacie!!
Beautiful pictures! I have never been a winter sport/outing type of person but this really makes me want to go!
I’m not anymore either, this is about as ‘mountaintop with snow’ as I get! 🙂
What a gorgeous place! Definitely a great teachable adventure.
You learned so much on this tour – definitely worth it!
love the amazing photos..it looks so beautiful there! cold but beautiful 🙂
I was expecting chilly but it was very warm. odd to feel the cold come up your legs yet meet the heat of a 30 degree day. It was awesome!
It looks beautiful there. I can’t wait until my boys are a little older and we can take vacations like this.
I’m sure they’d love it!
Wow that looks like such a beautiful trip, a lot to learn, and beautiful sight seeing
It was amazing!!
That looks like an incredible place to visit! And I have made a note for if I ever get to go… take water bottles to fill!
Yes, you’ll appreciate having them!
It’s breathtaking. Love your photos. I need to get going on this before they melt. I want to go see them for myself.
Thank you Tiffany!
Wow this looks like a great experience!
It was amazing!!
gorgeous, I bet that water tasted amazing!
Best water. ever!!
Oh wow that looks beautiful. I hope to make a trip there next year. What was the temperature like? I notice one of your little princesses holding rather than wearing her jacket!
Expect for it to be chilly, yet we went on a HOT day, it was about 33 degrees Celsius. Which, is unusually hot for the area. So, we didn’t need the jackets. Yet, I’d bring them again if I went, you never know!
33! That’s so surprising! Thanks for the response!
The water color is amazing! I couldn’t take my eyes off of picture and sure could spend hours staring at it in reality 🙂
Beautiful water!! There are lakes in the area that are glacier lakes, the most beautiful water you’ll ever see. You can tell the lake is glacier fed by the colour of the water. Moraine lake in Banff National Park is my fave: http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.morainelake.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/home-promo-img-1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://morainelake.com/&h=149&w=338&sz=1&tbnid=HBOsEI0Ypvqa4M:&tbnh=149&tbnw=338&zoom=1&usg=__ZnkwxvsBqwzxSc0Siwkpe-kd0yA=&docid=-d5Dl8cJua_F7M&itg=1&sa=X&ei=bLYXUpPzN-qpiQL34oHICg&ved=0CKcBEPwdMAo#imgdii=HBOsEI0Ypvqa4M%3A%3BPs-4M78K8OPIFM%3BHBOsEI0Ypvqa4M%3A
Saw this on vacation when I was a kid and it was nothing but ice then. Sad to see that it’s almost gone!
Sad right?
Love the pictures. I did visit a few years back on a road trip with my daughter. Love to go back and take the grandkids.
Oh you should! I think you’d have an excellent time Florence!
what an adventure!
We had a blast!
beautiful pictures
Thank you Jenny!
Great pictures, makes me feel like I was there all over again!
Thank you very much, time to plan another trip perhaps?!
🙂
amazing!
So spectacular! Definitely, memories that will last forever!
Definitely!!
What a great adventure, I’d love to do that sometime
You should Penny, you would have the time of your life!!
Thanks for sharing. We did this trip as newlyweds many moons ago. Brought back some memories.
Nice, what special memories for you!!
I remember when we were living in Britain and I won a holiday to Alberta – we went and saw this, it was wonderful – unfortunately we lost all our photographs and videos of the holiday – a good excuse to go back
The glaciers you see there are Athabasca, Snow Done, Androneda, AA & Sunwapta. Stuttfield Glacier is further down the road : )
My husband and I stayed at the hotel there, the Glacier View Inn. We had a large room looking onto the glacier, it was a very beautiful view looking out on to the glacier where we had just done the tour and very comfortable room. We will have to stay there again.
our country is so beautiful! I feel very lucky to live here 🙂
The Columbia Icefields are such an amazing place. I am always surprised at the number of British Columbians (being from Kamloops) that haven’t been there! I also visited on a hot day, which I think just enhances your amazement at what you are experiencing. Great post and great photos!
I always wanted to take this tour – you’d think living close to Edmonton it wouldn’t be hard to do eh? Well so far I’ve never made it. I have been to other glaciers though and found them very impressive. You have taken some wonderful photos whilst there. Nice tip to take water bottles with you, thanks.
I love this section! So much useful information for planning trips!
beautiful photos!! I have a girlfriend who travels to Banff all the time to visit with some of her family…think i may tagging along on her next trip!! I would love to check out the Columbia Icefield Glacier Adventure tour !!! thanks for sharing!
I was there about 7 years ago. It was breathtaking.
Thanks for writing in so much detail! I’ve been out to Banff and Jasper before but have never done the icefields. It’s on my travel wishlist, and this just solidified it.
I loved going there (many years ago, but it left quite an impression).
What great pictures, this is definetly on my to do list.
Not the most typical vacay, but still super cool! 🙂
I remember visiting here myself when I was a child.
Great experience. I did this on our first road trip In Alberta with our daughter 10 years ago when she moved out west. Your pictures are spectacular!
We just got back from a trip and we went out on this glacier adventure too, a truly amazing experience and the water was SO good. We filled up our water pack so we could enjoy it throughout the day!