3 Day Wapta Icefields Glacier Hike in Canada

The trek begins at Bow Lake and crosses the Bow Glacier en route to the Peyto Glacier, with comfortable alpine huts to rest in along the way. First-time glacier travelers will be amazed by this immersive experience. Expert guides offer up-close insight into this delicate alpine environment, allowing you to confidently explore the icefields while disconnecting from modern life.

Standing on the icefield feels like walking across an ocean of ice, with jagged peaks soaring above 10,000 feet. This Wapta Icefields glacier hiking adventure combines thrill, education, and awe-inspiring scenery, creating a once-in-a-lifetime experience in the heart of the Canadian Rockies.

This glacier hiking tour is a Canadian Tourism Commission Signature Experience, making it an iconic way to experience the Rockies’ high alpine wilderness.

Itinerary

Day 1: Bow Lake to Bow Hut

Meet others at Yamnuska Mountain Adventures' classroom in Canmore at 8 a.m. for introductions, trip review, and equipment issue and check. After packing up, it’s an hour and a half drive north to Bow Lake, where you commence the hike to Bow Hut.

You start on the “tourist trail," which follows the lakeshore to the head of this turquoise-colored lake and then up the river flats beyond. The "tourist trail” experience finishes partway up a steep trail next to a small but spectacular gorge the river has cut into the limestone. Here the gorge is bridged by a gargantuan boulder, which you use to gain the other side where the mountaineer’s trail starts.

This trail leads you past old moraines, then up through the forest until it opens out into a massive alpine cirque surrounded by peaks and glaciers. You hike on a rough trail through the rocky flats until a final ascent brings you to the Bow Hut, which is located at 2350 m on a shoulder adjacent to the snout of the Bow Glacier.

The hut has magnificent views of the surrounding peaks and glaciers as well as back down the canyon to the main valley.

This will take you between 3 and 5 hours. Distance 7 km, elevation gain 400 m.

Day 2: Bow Hut to Peyto Hut

You get up early to make the most of what will be a spectacular day as you cross the Icefields to Peyto Hut.

The Bow Glacier is the source of the Bow River, which flows down the valley through Lake Louise, Banff, Canmore, and finally out onto the plains, then past Calgary to eventually join the South Saskatchewan River.

Today, you climb its gentle slopes below the impressive crag of Mt. St. Nicholas to top out on the flat expanse of the Wapta Icefield. After a side trip to flat-topped Polaris Peak, from where you can gain an expansive panorama with peaks in every direction, you continue west to where the Peyto Glacier drops gradually away. Peyto Hut sits on a bench above the glacier where it takes a sweeping turn to the north. This is a fantastic spot; in every direction are glaciated peaks and colors in shades of rock and ice.

Hiking on the glacier, you will be wearing a harness and be roped together for maximum safety. The glacier, like those everywhere, has many crevasses, and while most are easily seen and avoided, the group will take maximum precautions. Your guide is certified, trained, and very experienced on glacier terrain. You will also wear crampons (spikes that fit onto the soles of your boots) to give you firm traction on the ice. The glacial surface is not very steep. Walking with the crampons on is very easy.

This will take between 4 and 6 hours. Distance: 6 km. Elevation gain 550 m, loss 460 m.

Additional hiking may be available depending upon the conditions.

Day 3: Peyto Hut – Peyto Lake (or return to Bow Lake)

Today is mostly downhill as you drop back onto the glacier from the hut and follow it almost to its snout. Hiking across the white ice, you’ll pass deep mill wells where glacier streams roar into the depths below. Along the way, you’ll see how glaciers preserve fragments of the past—rocks, ancient spruce needles and twigs from long-ago fires, and even small animals caught centuries ago in early winter snows.

The Peyto Glacier offers one of the clearest on-the-ground examples of a rapid glacial retreat, and your guide will point out where the ice once reached not long ago. Opportunities like this may not remain common in the future—this is a rare chance to experience a glacier up close.

Leaving the glacier just before its snout, you climb briefly onto old moraines and pass a modest research station where glacial studies are occasionally carried out. From here, you traverse to the crest of the lateral moraine before descending into the lower valley. River flats and forest lead you toward the gravel plains above Peyto Lake—one of the signature turquoise lakes of the Canadian Rockies. A short final climb through mature forest brings you onto the popular “tourist trail,” where day hikers often look on with awe at those emerging from a full Icefield traverse.

As conditions change throughout the season, you may also need to use ropes and harnesses to safely lower yourself through the short cliff band that provides access to the lower valley on the Peyto exit. Your guide will manage this process with appropriate safety systems and clear instructions.

Route options: Peyto Exit or Return to Bow Hut

Depending on weather, glacier conditions, water levels, and overall group ability, it may be necessary on Day 3 to retrace your route across the Icefields and return to Bow Hut rather than continuing out to Peyto Lake. Safety and group experience always guide this decision.

If you return via Bow Hut, the day is equally rewarding:

A second crossing of the Wapta Icefield gives you another chance to travel through one of the most expansive and awe-inspiring glacier systems in the Rockies—often with different light, visibility, and atmosphere than the previous day.

You enjoy big-mountain views in reverse, revealing new angles on Mt. St. Nicholas, the Bow Glacier, and the surrounding peaks.

Descending towards the Bow Hut offers a comfortable, sheltered break before the final hike out, with time to rest or simply take in the sweeping alpine scenery one last time.

The hike from Bow Hut back to Bow Lake delivers all the classic highlights of Day 1, now with the reward of experience behind you—traveling through the cirque, passing the massive gorge, and emerging once more beside the turquoise waters of Bow Lake.

Either way—Peyto Lake or Bow Lake—you’ll finish the trip having experienced some of the most iconic glacier travel and alpine terrain the Wapta has to offer.

Instructor and group size

Because this hike takes place on glaciers, your guide will be a certified guide who is trained and qualified to lead you across glaciers. The guides are also licensed by Parks Canada.

The minimum group size will be 4 people. There will be a maximum of 8 guests per guide.

Meeting place and time

You will meet others at the Yamnuska Mountain Adventures classroom at 8:00 am on the morning of Day 1. The office is located at 100, 50 Lincoln Park, Canmore. Please ensure that you have your hiking equipment with you.

Park Passes

Please note that the program takes place within a national park. Guests will be required to purchase their own pass. National Park passes are available both online and in person at national park gates and some information centers.

Note

Please note you will be required to sign the Yamnuska Release of Liability and Waiver of Claims prior to commencing the program. Please review the sample waiver prior to booking and ask Yamnuska if you have any questions.

Is this for you?

This program is suitable for those with prior hiking experience. Being in good shape already will add to your enjoyment of the trip. While we will be on glacier terrain often associated with mountaineering, you don’t need any mountaineering experience. You will be using basic equipment that your guide will show you how to use. Your guide will also show you how to walk on the glacier and will explain and interpret the terrain for you. However, expect to wear crampons and be ‘roped up’ when hiking the glacier.

You need to have some confidence in your hiking skills, as the hardest hiking is actually below the glaciers, where you will travel on trails that are often rough and rocky.

You will be carrying a backpack with your personal gear and a share of the group’s food. On the initial approach and on the final part of day 3, you will also be carrying your harness and crampons.