Canada Approach to Bow Lake

The drive from Lake Louise to jasper on Canada’s Icefields Parkway (93) is about 145 miles (230 km) and is about a 3 hour drive if you don’t stop along the way. Of course that is virtually impossible for anyone with a camera. This shot is typical of the scenery for almost the entire drive. In my opinion, this is the most spectacular drive in North America. I’ve driven the road many times. There are dozens of stops you’ll want to make along the way. A quick online search will reveal numerous charts/lists of the many attractions accessed along the beautiful highway, most of which are immediately off the highway.

Use a telezoom lens to create this unique look and a closer look at this stunning mountain ridge. A person or car on the road might be nice for scale. Early morning is a great time to catch some mountain glow. I recommend not using the high tech super sophisticated Jeep Grand Cherokee windshield filter like I did for this shot but it was raining pretty hard at the time. Also, the road itself is beautifully constructed and maintained but this stretch has no shoulder and no place to pull over, thus, the “through the windshield technique”. It’s possible that there is a place to pull over to compose a better shot but if so, I missed it. On my NEXT visit, I’ll be actively searching for one.

This shot was taken from the south bound lane about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Bow Lake. I stopped on the side of the road. Be careful to not block the parkway as well as when crossing the road. It's not too busy in the early morning but almost impossible to get to the empty road during the day.