Jasper National Park Icefield Information Centre and Glacier Gallery — Attraction in Alberta

Even before you arrive at the Columbia Icefield Discovery Centre, you get to travel through the stunning Alpine landscape that is either Banff National Park or Jasper National Park depending on the direction you're heading. The immense snow-capped mountains make the voyage to the Discovery Centre an experience in itself and ranks as one of the most scenic drives I've taken in my life.

Upon arrival, you will find ample free parking for your car, motorcycle, bicycle, RV, or bus in a well-organized and orderly parking lot. Take a turn inside the centre and you will find gift shops full of souvenirs and memorabilia, helpful park employees for tourists who seek information about the area, a restaurant, an inn for the weary traveler, a museum gallery of glacier knowledge, a café, outdoor seating, and a ticket booth selling guided tours of the Athabasca glacier. I suggest purchasing your tour a week in advance, as tours sell out quickly and you may miss out on a rare opportunity to visit the glacier.

Overall, I found the staff at the Columbia Icefield Discovery Centre to be helpful and very informative. My inner bookworm was fed when I picked up a book in the gift shop by the respected mountain historian and water-related climate process expert Robert William Sandford upon the recommendation of Tori, the young tour guide from British Columbia who impressively drove me and about forty others up and down the side of Mount Athabasca and onto the Athabasca glacier in one of the centre's "ice explorer" vehicles. You will find that the multitude of college students from around the commonwealth who work as tour guides and bus drivers have lots to tell about the natural splendor and history of the surrounding area, and that they share a great enthusiasm for educating their guests on a subject that they undoubtedly find to be both beautiful and interesting.

The guided tours end with a visit to the Nature Skywalk, an engineering marvel that extends a cliffside path out into the ravine alongside route 93, giving visitors a dizzying view of the Athabasca river. Only the brave will be comfortable looking downward through the plexiglass floor, but I wouldn't worry about the strength of the structure failing. Audio guides are available for skywalkers in many languages and give lots of interesting tidbits about the geological and biological nature of the region.

A visit to the Columbia Icefield Discovery Centre will leave you with a unique educational experience that you will likely not forget. A trip to the hydrological apex of the tri-continental divide should be on everyone's to-do list when in the area. Help protect this place and the water it supplies to millions of North American residents by delegitimizing climate change deniers from...

This campground has positives and negatives. On the plus side, the location is beautiful, bug free and cool during the summer. There's also a Starbucks within walking distance, which is unusual for a campground. I enjoyed that a few times. There's also WIFI, so plus on that as well if you need extra data.

On the down side, the forest fire smoke is intense and unceasing once it arrives. This range is right on the wind track so there will never be a day without it. My pictures should indicate the extent of the issue. I imagine it will arrive every year as the smoke does happen every year.

Secondly, this is a tourist trap. Summer crowds are a thing, and although this might not be the most crowded space you'll find, it is still a bit of a circus show. Every tourist and their grandma is rolling through this lot every day being busy. Many of these are rental weekenders with little idea on how to behave. It's not awful, but it's also not really all that great. You've gotta have the patience to put up with it day after day, knowing a few of them are going to be so bad that you want to chase them off with a broom. In my six weeks here, I did have to literally chase two RVs away for being completely ridiculous, but only two. The rest ran the gamut from great to annoying. Unfortunately, it only takes one annoying group to muck up the entire grounds sometimes. All that being said, I would think that either Lake Louise or Jasper this time of year is worse.

The other issue is the directional slant of the route getting here. If you're coming from the lower mainland of BC, or to a certain extent the interior, then you really have to drive out of your way to go through here. The route is very awkward as far as being a stop along the way unless you live in Calgary and are heading to Prince George or vice versa. It really depends on where you aim to travel with your time and how far.

I think personally, I would be open to returning here, but I'm not sure I will end up doing so. It is loud enough and smokey enough and just really out of the way from a Vancouver starting point that I'll end up finding other places. Still, I do recommend the place. It is...

Quick note: My review is going to be a bit unfair to the ice walk, as I purchased the bundle which included a sky walk that I will integrate into this review.

First off, the glacier. You get to ride on a massive bus specially designed to climb steep angles and grip onto ice for around 10 minutes before you reach the actual glacier. There, you are only allowed 15 minutes to take a few photos and drink some of that unprocessed thousand year glacier water which you could fill into a bottle to take. The view was great albeit slightly depressing as you are able to witness firsthand the rate of how fast the ice is melting. Tour guides were very charismatic and friendly, giving a brief history of the mountains and glaciers themselves as well as the unfortunate rate in which they are melting. The view on the top is great, definitely worth a few photos. If you plan on going, be sure to pack some heavier clothing as temperatures are near zero degrees Celsius on the peak. Potentially 1 star off for the 30 min time limit on the glacier, but it's understandable considering the influx of tourists.

Now onto the sky walk: The trip to the glass bridge was enjoyable, as the tour guides on the bus were friendly and, similar to before, gave a brief history of the location. However, the bridge itself was rather disappointing. It simply gives a view of the valley with the majority of the walk not on glass but the side of the mountain. The actual "glass" part of the bridge is a small semicircle which doesn't give a very nice view, with a ton of people cramped on top making it hard to move or take photos. Despite the claims, it's also not too very far off the ground for what it's worth, viewing the valley from a car instead without paying the absurd price of a ticket would be a much better investment. Overall it was very underwhelming.

Conclusion: Ice walk was great. Skywalk, not so much. Go on the glaciers and...