Jasper: Columbia Icefield Skywalk

About This Experience

This is the Skywalk on its own, the cheapest way onto the glass floor if the glacier excursion is not what you came for. It is Pursuit's official ticket, so it is the same product sold at the Discovery Centre counter, booked ahead.

You start at the Columbia Icefield Discovery Centre and board a shuttle for the short hop south along the Icefields Parkway. There is no parking at the Skywalk itself, which is why the shuttle is compulsory rather than a convenience. At the far end you collect an audio guide and set off along an interpretive boardwalk of roughly one kilometre, with panels on the geology, the fossils in the rock and the wildlife that moves through the valley.

The walkway then curves out from the cliff and the floor turns to glass. There is 918 feet (280 metres) of air between you and the Sunwapta River below, with the valley opening north and glaciers hanging on the peaks above. Waterfalls run down the rock face beside the platform for most of the season.

Ratings for this ticket are steady rather than ecstatic, and the reason is worth knowing before you book: on its own the Skywalk is a viewpoint and a walk, not an expedition, and most people are done inside an hour. Visitors who pair it with the Ice Explorer glacier excursion consistently rate the day more highly.

Highlights

• Step onto a glass floor 918 feet above the Sunwapta Valley
• Walk a one-kilometre interpretive boardwalk out to the platform
• 360-degree views of Canadian Rockies peaks and hanging glaciers
• Multilingual audio guide covering geology, fossils and wildlife
• Official Pursuit ticket with the round-trip shuttle included

What's Included

• ✓ Entry to the Columbia Icefield Skywalk
• ✓ Multilingual audio guide
• ✓ Round-trip shuttle from the Columbia Icefield Discovery Centre

Not Included

• Food and drink
• Transport to and from the Columbia Icefield Discovery Centre

What to Bring

• Warm layers and a jacket, because the platform is exposed
• Comfortable closed shoes
• Sunscreen
• Camera
• Passport or photo ID

Good to Know & Caveats

• There is no parking at the Skywalk. Everyone rides the shuttle from the Discovery Centre.
• Shuttles run every 15 to 30 minutes through the operating day.
• The Skywalk does not run in bad weather, and the audio units are withdrawn in rain.
• Washrooms are at the Discovery Centre. There are none at the Skywalk.
• Nothing is sold on the platform, so eat before you go.
• Allow about an hour end to end, unless you are waiting on the light for photographs.

Meeting Point

Columbia Icefield Discovery Centre, AB-93 (Icefields Parkway), Jasper, AB T1L 1J3, Canada