JASPER NATIONAL PARK - Canadian Rockies: Including Banff and Jasper National Parks - page 325

Town of Jasper
The modern infrastructure of Jasper began developing in the 1960s, but until 2002 the
town site was run from Ottawa by Parks Canada. Jasper is now officially incorporated as
a town, with locally elected residents serving as mayor and council members. Decisions
made by the council must still balance the needs of living in a national park but also
represent locals who call the park home. On the surface, obvious visible changes of this
autonomy are a new emergency services building, a new wastewater treatment plant,
and improvements to an ever-increasing downtown parking problem. One thing hasn't
changed, and that's the basic premise of the town's existence: More than 50 percent of
Jasper's 5,200 residents work in the hospitality industry, serving the needs of two million
visitors annually.
Iceields Parkway (Jasper)
Sunwapta Pass (2,040 meters/6,690 feet), four kilometers (2.5 miles) south of the
Columbia Icefield, marks the boundary between Banff and Jasper National Parks.
The following sights along the Icefields Parkway are detailed from south to north, from
the Icefield Centre to the town of Jasper, a distance of 105 kilometers (65 miles). The
scenery along this stretch of road is no less spectacular than the other half through Banff
National Park, and it's easy to spend at least a full day en route.
No gas is available along this stretch of the Icefields Parkway. The nearest gas stations
are at Saskatchewan River Crossing (Banff National Park) and in the town of Jasper, 150
kilometers (93 miles) apart, so keep your tank topped up to be safe.
MM COLUMBIA ICEFIELD
The largest and most accessible of 17 glacial areas along the Icefields Parkway is the
325-square-kilometer (125-square-mile) Columbia Icefield, beside the Icefields Parkway
at the south end of the park, 105 kilometers (65 miles) south from Jasper and 132 kilo-
meters (82 miles) north from Lake Louise. It's a remnant of the last major glaciation that
covered most of Canada 20,000 years ago, and it has survived because of its elevation
at 1,900-2,800 meters (6,230-9,190 feet) above sea level, cold temperatures, and heavy
snowfalls. From the main body of the ice cap, which sits astride the Continental Divide,
six glaciers creep down three main valleys. Of these, Athabasca Glacier is the most ac-
cessible and can be seen from the Icefields Parkway; it is one of the world's few glaciers