Athabasca Falls

Located a half an hour south of the town Jasper on the Icefields Parkway, the Athabasca Falls are a popular roadside stop to travellers driving to or from the Columbia Icefield. Significantly more built up than Sunwapta Falls and especially more than Panther Falls, Athabasca Falls is noticably one of the busiest stops on the drive. Parking is plentiful, but expect to have to wait a little while for a spot to open up on the weekends.

As one of the most built-up areas in the entire region, travellers with families or those in wheelchairs will appreciate the interpretive signage and paved pathways that traverse this area. For those looking for solitude or more of a "wilderness" feel, the amount of man-made construction around Athabasca Falls, as well as the massive crowds, may make the falls more difficult to enjoy in the peak season. The falls are open in the winter, and the parking area is plowed out more often than not from Highway 93 (Icefields Parkway). Highway 93A is closed west of the parking area during the winter, and the falls may be temporarily inaccessible after a particularly heavy winter storm unless one were to ski or snowshoe from the highway.