Columbia Icefield

I did the Glacier Adventure for ~$ 55CAD. It was ok, but honestly not super worth it. It was cool to stand on my first glacier ever and learn more about this area during the ride there thru the guide, but you literally get only 15 mins of free time to roam in a certain section of the glacier where the bus drops you off. It’s kinda like just being in the middle of a lot of snow. Pictures don’t really turn out great because there’s not a lot of contrast, so I would recommend spending most of the time just taking it in instead of snapping photos especially when you have limited time. Maybe good for those more interested in leisure/​chill activities to see things.
What’s cooler and free is the short hike that is located across from the visitor center of this place. I’m not sure the name, but you will see a blueish ice cave looking structure from afar and there is a road to get there with a parking lot. It has broken glaciers there and is way more amazing!

Allow plenty of time. Long lines. If you can get your tickets on line, do so. You can do both the ice fields and the observation deck in the same day. About 4 hours. If you are heading to Jasper from Lake Louise, stop and do it before you get to Jasper. Absolutely not worth going backwards the next day.
We liked the Observation Deck best. Both well worth your time and money though.
Wear good shoes — The glacier floor is slippery and wet. Bring light but warm jacket — layered clothing — Sunscreen — Sunglasses

If you’re actually reading his you’re debating if this experience is worth the time an dmoney. It is. Just do it. End of story. It was the highlight of our entire trip. If you get to Banff you MUST hit the Columbia Icefield glacier tour. We booked through Brewster and they picked us up at Lake Louise. This was fantastic because it cuts off two hours of bus riding from your trip. The bus tour guide Alister was fantastic, knowledgable and fun. We learned a ton about the history and science of the national park. The glacier was the highlight of our trip. You have to experience this at least once before this one and most others are gone in our lifetime. Simply Awesome. Spend the money for the tour. Those that didn’t take the ice crawler tours are stuck looking up at the glacier and there is a big difference in the experience. You can even drink the melting water right off the glacier. The Ice crawler tour guide made the experience fun. My only complaint is that we had longer to stay on the glacier. Advice. take photos with the canadian flag quickly and then explore. Your time goes quickly. Its also quite cold up there. Dress in layers. Enjoy. Unbelievable experience.

This was the highlight of my 8 day trans-​Canada drive from Seattle to Calgary. Truth be told, while I planned this trip for my mom, I made the glacier bookings for me! I’d never been on a glacier and the chances of me ever getting to walk on one are slim to none and so finding out about these tours and getting to be so accessible via a drive and flight to Seattle made it worthy.
The experience is awesome and our driver was also really great. She gave us great tips and history on the glacier and we could definitely see the effects of global warming. This stuff is for real! It’s a great thing for family but not young children. I don’t think they can truly appreciate the beauty of it and appreciate the fact that it won’t be there later in their lifetimes. In addition, that glacier water is the best. Well worth the 11hr drive from Seattle and the 3hr drive in from Calgary.
The one thing I would have liked more is a longer time on the glacier. For $ 50-​$ 60, fifteen (15) minutes is NOT enough. Especially when there are tons of tourists there. There can be up to 3 or 4 Brewer ice buses on that glacier at one time with about twenty to thirty tourists on board. It takes away from the experience not to mention, impossible to get a picture. You end up wasting 15 minutes just trying to wait for a turn to get a picture with the Canadian flag! Definitely a once-​in-​a-​lifetime experience though. Should have brought an empty gallon jug for that water!

Review from Tripadvisor posting
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One of the things that you must go on while in Alberta is the Glacier Adventure. I think the cheaper option is just to drive to the bottom of the parkway itself but if you join the Glacier Adventures, they’ve got a bus that brings you into the icefield itself.
I thought I’ve seen snow before coming from Vancouver where there’s mountains and snow in December but this is on a whole different scale. The ice is super thick and super cold! Be prepared to dress appropriately if you’re going to do the Glacier Adventure. Due to the high volume of customers that they have, there’s a set time limit for when you need to get back onto the bus to bring you back to the main lodge so be sure to be on time.
The fellows that run the vehicles are super amusing so all the overloaded information that they give you is easy to learn and take in.
The guys mentioned that every year the ice is receding so it’s definitely something you want to see in your lifetime because it probably won’t be there a couple generations after!
Although it was pricey, I think it was definitely worth it’s money!

When I think of the Canadian Rockies, the things that instantly come to my mind are glacier-​covered mountains, colossal pure white glaciers, waterfalls, turquoise blue rivers and lakes. The one thing that I never dreamt of was, walking on the glaciers!
«What? Can I actually walk to the toe of the glaciers?» I was talking to myself when I saw a board that read that one can walk to the Athabasca Glaciers.
I’ve only seen those mighty, white, mysterious glaciers from faraway. An opportunity to walk to the toe of the glacier? Yes of course, I’ll take it any day! We parked the car and started walking uphill at a brisk pace. As the chilly winds brushed us, goose bumps started appearing on our skin. The weather had been so howling hot all morning that I could have fried an egg on the sidewalk. I gracefully welcomed and enjoyed the nippy winds on the way to the Athabasca Glaciers.
A glacial stream separated us from the glaciers. Due to the perils of glacial crevasses, it is advised not to cross the stream and touch the glaciers. However, I also learned that there are glacier adventure tours that will take you on gigantic ice explorers to the glaciers, and you have the chance to walk on them.
We came back another day, to do just that — walk on the Athabasca Glaciers!
The wheels of the ice explorers were as tall as me! As these ice explorers drove on the glaciers, we saw glacial mountains on either sides of the bus, ice on the verge of melting into pure water and the gorgeous Athabasca Glaciers right in front of us!
Initially, I was a bit scared walking on the glaciers. But then got used to it and started enjoying. I balled up the snow and threw them high above.
Find the little glacial melts and drink the pure water flowing down. Fill up your water bottles with the glacial water — it’s drinkable!
Admire the ponderosity of the pure-​white glaciers; I felt so teeny-​tiny standing there amidst them!
While returning, be on the lookout for Mount Snowdome (the triple continental divide or the hydrological apex), the water from here flows into three oceans — Pacific, Arctic and the Antarctic.
Notice the mile-​markers that indicate the glacier’s retreat over the past two centuries. In 1840, the glaciers were all the way till the parking lot. Over the years they have retreated and it is predicted that at the current rate at which the glacier recedes, the glacier will very soon be replaced with a lake and a forest. That wouldn’t be cool, would it? Downsides of development?

The huge bus tires. The steep bus ride.
This is something you do and you feel ‘WOW’. You enjoy the views, the calm (except when there are tooo many people).
If you can afford it. DO IT! Not everyday and everywhere you get to stand on a glacier which has a depth more than the height of the Eiffel tower.
Word of advise: Dress well even if you don’t feel too cold before you get there.

Absolute breathtaking beauty. Ignore the cheapskates talking about $ 50 being a lot as this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for most of us. Incredible beauty. Stepping out onto the glacier is almost a surreal experience. Do not skip this if you have the opportunity.

For most folks it’s a great opportunity to ‘be on a glacier’…I mean, if you’re a tourist and driving by, there’s few reasons not to do it. Yep, it’s pricey, but so is filling up your gas tank. Overall, it was a fun experience, after the waiting and the lines.
A suggestion for the tour company though… keep a dang stack of disposable paper cups on the bus for us to drink the water! Sure, there are the idiots without manners that will toss them on the ground, but if they don’t get back onboard without their cup, then leave em up there! Otherwise, you’re licking it like a dog from the side of the glacier. The smart ones brought a bottle!

Avoid the Crowds & Arrive Before They Open at 9am. $ 50 is a lot but this is such a unique experience I figured it was worth it for the 80 minute drive out onto the glacier. The Ice bus itself was fun esp. going down a 30% grade. Get here early — we were the only group on the glacier. Later in the day there could be six or more buses out there. If I ever come back I’d try the walking tour on the glacier.
August 2014

Yup, it’s insanely expensive.
There is a small 33 room hotel, two restaurants, a gift shop and two expensive tourist activites. Next year there will be an interpretive center but it’s being rebuilt.
In less than 24 hours, we slept the night, ate 2 meals and a snack/​half meal, took the ice explorer and did the skywalk and I think that privilege came to about $ 600 for two people with no souvenir purchases and not including gas or transportation.
I had been on the ice explorer as a child but my husband had going onto a glacier on his bucket list so it was a matter of time that we ended up here because I think that’s the easiest way onto the glacier even if you’re going to walk onto one. With this in mind, we’d do it over again. The scenery is wonderful and we saw a lot of animals. I’m born and raised around the rockies but my first wild grizzly was spotted on this trip which I’m excited about.
I recommend the ice explorer as long as you know you just drive out there, walk around a bit, fill up a water bottle with glacier water (yum) and drive back down and are cool with that). The skywalk was just OK. I didn’t think the view was anything too special (it’s not really over the glacier or anything because that’s unsafe to build around) so it’s just over a valley and although the mountains are special it’s just a valley like most around the area when I say not special. It’s a lot like a roadside turn out with a bit more signage and education and then of course the glass walkout over the cliff. I’ve been on glass platforms before so it’s not that new or scary but for some it seemed like they were facing a life long fear so it might be more meaningful to others. I went to the west rim of the grand canyon and skipped the skywalk there for the reason I’m not thrilled about the glacier one. The difference was the glacier one was a bit more reasonable than the one in arizona and you can bring your own camera out there.
I have a separate review of the hotel on here but overall I liked staying by the glacier.
The food was OK but very much «take it or starve». The café is bad hospital food but more expensive. The dining room has a very expensive menu but isn’t nearly as bad as I thought. We had dinner here and the food is good/​upscale pub fair to some fairly decent food in it’s own merit. I had a quinoa apple salad (something not just anyone get right) and it was DELICIOUS. We also have breakfast here (it was part of our room package) and the buffet was good as far as breakfast buffets go it included lots of options and decent hot food. Very expensive, but you have little choice if you didn’t bring food with you.

Bought Combo Ticket online, paid 90 dollar for 3 activity (Gondola, Ice Field and the glass walk) It’s worth to take all of those 3 activity while in the area.
We have wacky Cannuck Tour guide who like to sing and she explained the history and gave lots info about the ice field.
Drink the water from the glacier from the small falls at the glacier shelf on stop at the top.
Bring jacket and photo with lots of batteries and memory/​film

This is not cheap and we waited at least 45 minutes before we got on the bus to take you to the Ice Explorer. Wear anti-​slip shoes and be prepared for anything, we were prepared for cooler temps but not the 80 km winds and sleet.
I have to admit, this was a bucket list kind of activity for me and maybe I built it up in my head but was a little disappointed when there was no «drinking water from a glacier» like in the pictures and videos we saw prior to going in. I also work in the environmental field so I’m aware of the effects climate change/​global warming, whatever you want to call it has on these glaciers. However, although our tour guide Brad was awesome, the tour was kind of depressing knowing this glacier won’t be here much longer (another reason to visit) and wish they would maybe give advice on how to lessen our carbon footprint or advice on how to help save places so majestic.
All in all I think this experience is still worth the money and the trip. We actually drove up from Banff since we’ve never been in the area before and the drive was amazing. We almost got tired of saying how beautiful and breathtaking everything was. :)

50.00 each is not cheap, but this is not the time to be cheap. Take your lunch to work for a couple weeks if you have to but do not miss this adventure. You ride a specially made 6 wheel drive bus up on to 1000 ft of 1000 year old ice. It is too cool.
Speaking of lunch, bring your own to the ice fields. The food is mediocre and expensive.

I now realize why there is no cell service anywhere near the Columbia Icefield: because they wanted me to cool off before posting my Unilocal review.
After a fairly long (but beautiful) drive from Banff, we arrived at the Columbia Icefield. Parking is free and abundant. You walk up several flights of stairs to get to what I can only classify as a château. Inside, you’ll find ticket sales, washrooms, and a gift shop on the main floor, as well as a cafeteria upstairs.
We bought our tickets ($ 210 for four – yikes!) and got in line to get on the bus. The wait wasn’t too long, and soon we were on Malcolm’s bus. He takes you across the highway and partway up the mountain to the changeover point, where you get onto your Ice Explorer. Your ride begins with a descent down a 34 percent grade and then it’s up the glacier. The ride is slow but the guide does a good job explaining the Athabasca glacier, surrounding glaciers, the technology of the Ice Explorer, etc. At the «top» (nowhere near the top), you are allowed to exit the Explorer and walk around for 20 minutes (technically you could stay longer if you want – just get on another Explorer for the ride down). It was cool to see the glacier up close and taste the water.
Eventually we were back down and out of the bus. Our driver told us that the «observation center» (again, I don’t know what to call it) set a record for having the largest women’s bathroom in North America at something in the range of 68 stalls (only 19 in the men’s room). Speaking of restrooms – they were disgusting. Every available stall had excrement of some sort on the seat, which meant I couldn’t bring my son in to go to the bathroom.
When we went upstairs to the cafeteria I got a firsthand experience of a monopoly. Knowing full well that there was no other food available for 50 miles in any direction, the cafeteria was full-​on price gouging. We went with two sandwiches that looked like they were from 7 – 11 and a juice, which still came to almost $ 20.
The glacier was cool, but I felt like I was at Disneyland with a «tourist» stamp on my forehead. It was a great experience, but is far too expensive for what you get.

Um auch einmal einen deutschen Beitrag hier zu platzieren.
Wir haben die Tour bis oben hin gebucht. Der Preis schreckt zwar erst einmal ab, aber wann hat man schon mal die Gelegenheit ein Gletscher zu betrachten.
Und ich bin froh dass wir es gemacht haben. Die Aussicht ist grandios.
Es lohnt sich auch mehr über die Gletscher zu erfahren und zu sehen wie sie im laufe der Jahre dahinschmelzen.
Wir sollten mehr dafür tun, dass dies gestoppt wird.

When I was 13 my parents took me on what I referred to then as «the camping trip from hell.»
Seriously, they didn’t like each other, and it was the two of them and me in a camper, for 6 weeks, all through Yellowstone and Canada and back down the Oregon coast to Phoenix.
It really was pretty damn awful.
However, this Icefield was wonderful. I loved it. It was beautiful and so quiet, and so just flat out awesome. COOOOOLD. (I was from Phoenix, so anything below 60 is time for a down coat, basically).
I think this was a great use of my family’s time and effort. I have been back again, and still felt the same way.

Tourist Trap. Overpriced but well organized and Informational. The best part was our Japanese driver. He was hilarious. Retired Financial Banker from Japan who use to work in New York but now spends his summers here with his wife. He was so funny and engaging and really cared about our time on the glacier. Impressive that he learned how to drive this big beast of a vehicle considering his background. It was pretty cool to be a passenger on one of their specially designed ice explorers and walk around on the glacier and drink melt water from it.
There is a another tour 8 hours that you have a guide and hike with crampons and gear on the glacier. I wish I would have done that instead. It was cheaper and more my style but i didn’t know i could do it. Everyone recommended this method of visiting the glacier. Maybe I’m dinging it a star for my disappointment. For most people i guess 45 minutes on a glacier is enough time but i wanted the hands on adventure.

A truly amazing experience! Although the tickets were rather expensive for the Icefield tour, we decided to do it since we were there, and in the end, we were glad we did! You first take a bus up to the Ice Explorer port and transfer on to one of the Brewster Ice Explorers that takes you out to the glacier. We had a great tour guide that made the experience very enjoyable. Once up top at the glacier, you are free to walk around and take plenty of pictures. Many people had brought water bottles and filled them up with the melted ice that was streaming.

You’ll take the Icefields Parkway to the Icefields Center, where you will start your tour. They depart approx every half hour or so. From here, you catch a Brewster Ice Explorer which will bring you out to the glacier. This is a specially equipped bus with some insane looking tires. These vehicles are serious, and make you almost feel not the least bit nervous about the little drive you are about to take. (if I don’t come back, tell Al Gore he was right.) so as you drive onto the glacier you are thinking «this thing is kinda heavy»… Yikes!
About half way through the tour, they stop for you to get off the bus and go walk on the glacier. Funny how you step off so carefully, just making sure that the ice is not going to give way. It really is beautiful out here. The crevasses are impressive and intimidating. This makes me wonder how I will answer the question below: Good for kids? If you hold onto them and not let them go for one second, it’s awesome for kids! Before you know it, it’s back on the Brewster to finish off your tour.
Staff is friendly, and the tour is very informative and interesting. This is definately a «bucket list» type of adventure.

The Columbia Icefield is located in the Canadian Rockies, astride the Continental Divide. The icefield lies partly in the northwestern tip of Banff and the southern end of Jasper National Park. It is about 325 km in area, 100 to 365 metres in depth and receives up to seven metres of snowfall per year. The icefield feeds eight major glaciers.
The Athabasca River and the North Saskatchewan River also originate in the Columbia Icefield, as do tributary headwaters of the Columbia River. This puts the Icefield atop a triple Continental Divide, as these waters ultimately flow to the Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans.
I was here the first time in the middle of a blizzard and didn’t see anything! I had better luck the second time as Gayle and I drove up from Lake Louise, enjoyed the visitors centre, and then took a hike to get a closer look. The next time, we’ll try out the «Tundra Buggy» and I’m sure it will be worth every cent.
Parts of the Icefield are visible from the Icefields Parkway. The Athabasca Glacier in particular has apparently receded significantly over the years. It’s a gorgeous sight nonetheless and well worth the Icefields Parkway Journey from either Banff or Jasper. You’ll never see anything like this in your life again.