JASPER NATIONAL PARK - Canadian Rockies: Including Banff and Jasper National Parks - page 326

that you can drive right up to. It is an impressive 600 hectares (1,480 acres) in area and up
to 100 meters (330 feet) deep. The speed at which glaciers advance and retreat varies with
the long-term climate. Athabasca Glacier has retreated to its current position from across
the highway, a distance of more than 1.6 kilometers (one mile) in a little more than 100
years. Currently it retreats up to two meters (six feet) per year. The rubble between the toe
of Athabasca Glacier and the highway is a mixture of rock, sand, and gravel known as till,
deposited by the glacier as it retreats.
The ice field is made more spectacular by the impressive peaks that surround it. Mount
Athabasca (3,491 meters/11,450 feet) dominates the skyline, and three glaciers cling to
its flanks. Dome Glacier is also visible from the highway; although part of the Columbia
Icefield, it is not actually connected. Instead it is made of ice that breaks off the ice field
300 meters (980 feet) above, supplemented by large quantities of snow each winter.
Exploring the Iceield
From the Icefields Parkway, an unpaved road leads down through piles of till left by the
retreating Athabasca Glacier to a parking area beside Sunwapta Lake. An interesting al-
ternative is to leave your vehicle beside the highway and take the 1.6-kilometer (one-mile)
hiking trail through the lunarlike landscape to the parking area. From this point, a short
path leads up to the toe of the glacier. (Along the access road, look for the small markers
showing how far the toe of the glacier reached in years past; the farthest marker is across
the highway beside the stairs leading up to the Icefield Centre.)