Camping

Beyond Lake Louise [1], the first camping along the Icefields Parkway [2] is at Mosquito Creek Campground (year-round, $21), 24 kilometers (15 miles) from the TransCanada Highway. Don’t be perturbed by the name, though; the bugs here are no worse than anywhere else. The 32 sites are nestled in the forest, with a tumbling creek separating the campground from a hostel. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring, while other amenities include pump water, pit toilets, and a kitchen shelter with an old-fashioned woodstove.

Waterfowl Lake Campground (late June–mid-Sept., $27) is 33 kilometers (20 miles) north along the Icefields Parkway from Mosquito Creek. It features 116 sites between Upper and Lower Waterfowl Lakes, with a few sites in view of the lower lake. Facilities include pump water, flush toilets, and kitchen shelters with wood-burning stoves. Rise early to watch the first rays of sun hit Mount Chephren from the shoreline of the lower lake, then plan on hiking the four-kilometer (2.5-mile) trail to Chephren Lake—you’ll be first on the trail and back in time for a late breakfast.

Continuing toward Jasper [3], the Icefields Parkway passes The Crossing, a good place to gas up and buy last-minute groceries before reaching Rampart Creek Campground (late June–early Sept., $21), 31 kilometers (19 miles) beyond Waterfowl Lake and 88 kilometers (55 miles) from Lake Louise. With just 50 sites, this campground fills early. Amenities include kitchen shelters, pit toilets, and pump water.

Over Sunwapta Pass and within Jasper National Park [4], Wilcox Creek and Columbia Icefield Campgrounds are within two kilometers (1.2 miles) of each other just south of the Columbia Icefield [5], around 125 kilometers (78 miles) north of Lake Louise [1], and just over 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of the town of Jasper. Both are primitive facilities with pit toilets, cooking shelters, and fire rings; all sites are $16. Smallish sites at Columbia Icefield Campground are set in a stunted subalpine forest of aspen and spruce, with views extending across to the Athabasca Glacier. Immediately to the south, Wilcox Creek offers larger sites, better suited to RVs and trailers, but with no hookups. Continuing north is Jonas Creek and then Honeymoon Lake and Mt. Kerkeslin Campgrounds. All cost $16 per night and have only primitive facilities.