Icefields Parkway and Ice Bubbles of Abraham Lake Tour

Icefields Parkway

Your local guide plans each day's route on the day. Every morning, we check the weather, road conditions on the Icefields Parkway, and the ice on Abraham Lake, then choose the order of stops so you see each one at its best. Dress for a full day outside in freezing temperatures. Wear warm layers, a hat and gloves, and waterproof winter boots. Conditions in the mountains can change quickly. The stops below are a sample of where the tour may go.

Abraham Lake

Walk out onto the frozen surface of Abraham Lake, just east of Banff National Park, where methane bubbles freeze in stacked white layers beneath clear ice. Your guide finds the best patch of ice for the day, so you can see and photograph the bubbles up close.

Duration: 1 hour

Peyto Lake

At Bow Summit, the highest point on the Icefields Parkway, your guide fits you with snowshoes or ice cleats and shows you how to use them. If you can walk, you can snowshoe. Follow a snowy forest trail to the Peyto Lake viewpoint, where the lake's famous wolf-head shape sits below a ring of peaks and glaciers. The walk is optional but well worth it: an easy to moderate 1.5 km (0.9 mi) round trip, about 45 minutes.

Duration: 45 minutes

Bow Lake

At 1,920 m (6,300 ft), Bow Lake is one of the largest lakes in Banff National Park and the source of the Bow River. In winter it freezes into a wide white plain beneath Crowfoot Mountain, with the Bow Glacier, part of the Wapta Icefield, spilling down the peaks above it.

Duration: 15 minutes

Banff National Park

Every full-day tour includes Abraham Lake, Peyto Lake, and Bow Lake. Along the way, your guide may add extra stops based on the weather, road conditions, and recent wildlife sightings. These could include Waterfowl Lakes, Herbert Lake, Cline River Falls, or a quiet roadside pullout with a view worth stopping for.

Duration: 6 hours