About halfway between Lake Louise Village and Jasper Town is the only accessible section of the vast Columbia Icefield, which covers an area the size of the city of Vancouver and feeds eight glaciers. This remnant of the last ice age which is up to 350m thick in places stetches across the plateau between Mt Columbia (3747m) and Mt Athabasca (3491m).
It's the largest ice field in the Rockies and feeds the North Saskatchewan, Columbia, Athabasca, Mackenzie and Fraser River systems with its meltwaters. The mountainous sides of this vast bowl of ice are some of the highest in the Rockies, with nine peaks higher than 3000m.
Be sure to stop at the Icefield Centre , where you can chat with the rangers from Parks Canada about camping options and climbing conditions; they can answer any questions you might have regarding the park. There's a fairly insipid cafeteria here, along with some equally bland hotel rooms at the Glacier View Inn .
