Icefields Parkway - The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips - page 258

16. Jasper National Park
Theroadcontinuestoclimb,finallycrestingatSunwaptaPass,theboundarybetweenBanff
and Jasper national parks. A small stone monument marks the border.
17. Columbia Icefield
Inside the park the road descends to the toe of Athabasca Glacier, one of the few glaciers
accessiblebycar.VisitorshavebeencomingtotheColumbiaIcefieldsinceitsdiscoveryin
1898. The first organized tours were on horseback; studded horseshoes helped the animals
griptheslipperyice.Sincethen,morethan10millionpeoplehavecometowalkthelargest
bodyoficeintheRockies.Todaythetoursareconductedviasnowcoachesthatallowvisit-
orstotreadincentury-oldfootsteps.Toursdepartfromthewell-appointedIcefieldsCentre,
which also features exhibitions, dining, and a gift shop.
For more glacier viewing, cross the road and walk along the gravelly trail to the toe of
the Athabasca Glacier. Markers outline the path of the glacier's recession, which accounts
for a loss of 65 to 98 feet of ice per year. About 6 miles north of the center, the Stutfield
Glacier turnout directs the gaze toward a tongue of the icefield that pours 3,000 feet down
Mt. Stutfield, forming a pair of icefalls.
WOODLAND CARIBOU
The iconic image of the woodland caribou—thick ruff, graceful muzzle, and tall
antlers—pressesdeepintothepalmsofCanadiansandvisitorsalike.Itsvisageappears
on the Canadian quarter. Yet the migratory woodland caribou is a vanishing symbol
in Banff National Park (the last known herd in Banff was all but wiped out in a 2009
avalanche) and Jasper National Park, which supports only three small herds. Park of-
ficials tally the south Jasper herd, which roams in the Maligne, Tonquin, Jonas Creek,
and Poboktan Pass areas, at about 100 animals.
Uniquelyadaptedtoitsnorthernenvironment,caribouplowthroughdeepsnowon
concave hoofs the size of small dinner plates, protected from plunging temperatures
by a thick fur coat. The woodland caribou feasts upon ground and tree lichens found
in the old-growth boreal forests of Canada and the northern United States, though few