Icefields Parkway - The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips - page 256

The Mistaya River carves deep into the limestone of scenic Mistaya Canyon.
11. Mistaya Canyon
From Bow Summit the parkway stretches down into the Mistaya Valley, giving drivers a
long look toward the horizon. Just past the Waterfowl Lakes Campground, pull into the
Mistaya Canyon parking lot for an easy walk along an old logging road to a bridge that
spans the rushing Mistaya River. In winter, ice and snow makes the trek treacherous, but
summer visitors are rewarded with impressive views of the steep, curved fissures cut into
the rock by the cascading waters.
12. Saskatchewan River Crossing
The Crossing, as 19th-century trappers called it, marks the junction of the North Saskat-
chewan, Mistaya, and Howse rivers. Modern-day travelers meet at the crossing to fuel up,
replenish supplies, and stay the night from March/April through October. The river, valley,
and nearby mountain pass all bear the name of trader Joseph Howse, who crossed the Ca-
nadian Rockies in 1809. The view of the mountain range today remains much the same:
Mt. Sarbach rises at left, and Mt. Outram and Mt. Forbes—the second highest peak in the
park—lie between the Howse and Glacier river valleys.
13. Weeping Wall
As the drive continues northward, several small waterfalls can be seen in spring and sum-
merastheywendtheirwaysdownthesteeprocksofCirrusMountain.Themountaindom-
inates the landscape to the east, and its especially large, bare cliff face rises impressively
from a forest of spiky Douglas fir.
If the winter snowfall provides enough ammunition, streams of meltwater wet the
smooth cliff like proverbial tears, building a thick layer of ice in winter and making the
Weeping Wall a popular destination for ice climbers.
14. Big Bend and Big Hill
NeartheboundaryofJasperNationalPark,theroadsnapsbackandthenrisessharply,with
sections known simply as the Big Bend and the Big Hill. A turnout crowns the steepest
section of the hill, and visitors can take in the large horseshoe-shaped North Saskatchewan
Valley below.