JASPER NATIONAL PARK - Canadian Rockies: Including Banff and Jasper National Parks - page 329

all aspects of the frozen world, including the story of glacier formation and movement.
The centerpiece is a scaled-down fiberglass model of the Athabasca Glacier, which is sur-
rounded by hands-on displays and audiovisual presentations.
Back on the main floor of the center you'll find a Parks Canada desk (780/
852-6288)—a good source of information for northbound visitors-Ice Explorer ticketing
desk, restrooms, and the obligatory gift shop.
Upstairs you'll find the cavernous Columbia Café, with snacks and hot drinks to
go on the right and an overpriced cafeteria-style restaurant to the left. Both are open
9am-6pm daily. Across the hallway is the Glacier Dining Room, open 7am-10am daily
for a breakfast buffet, reopening 6pm-9:30pm for ordinary Chinese-Canadian fare (mains
range $19-34). The only redeeming feature of these dining options has nothing to do with
the food—the view from both inside and out on the massive deck is stupendous. (For
northbound travelers, my advice is to pick up lunch at Laggan's Mountain Bakery in Lake
Louise.)
The Icefield Centre also holds a limited number of hotel rooms (Glacier View Inn, 780/
852-6550 or 877/423-7433, www.explorerockies.com , $229-289 s or d). Check-in is on
the main level.
The entire Icefield Centre closes down for the winter in mid-October, reopening the
following year in mid-April. During summer, the complex (including display area) is open
9am-10pm daily, with reduced hours outside of July and August.
COLUMBIA ICEFIELD TO THE TOWN OF JASPER
Sunwapta Lake, at the toe of the Athabasca Glacier, is the source of the Sunwapta River,
which the Icefields Parkway follows for 48 kilometers (30 miles) to Sunwapta Falls.
Immediately north of Icefield Centre is an unheralded pullout where few travelers stop,
but which allows for an excellent panorama of the area away from the crowds. Across
the glacial-green Sunwapta River is a wasteland of till and a distinctive terminal moraine
left behind by the retreating Dome Glacier. Between the Dome and Athabasca Glaciers is
3,459-meter (11,350-foot) Snow Dome.
Eight kilometers (five miles) north from the Icefield Centre, the road descends to a
viewpoint for Stutfield Glacier. Most of the glacier is hidden from view by a densely
wooded ridge, but the valley floor below its toe is littered with till left by the glacier's re-
treat. The main body of the Columbia Icefield can be seen along the cliff top high above,
and south of the glacier you can see Mount Kitchener.