This award-winning Radventures small-group adventure begins with a scenic drive from Banff, spotting wildlife along the way and learning about the region's Indigenous and European history.

Widely regarded as one of the most scenic drives in the world, the Icefields Parkway passes more than 100 ancient glaciers, cascading waterfalls, dramatic rock spires, and emerald lakes set in sweeping valleys of pine and larch forest. Wildlife is a regular part of the drive through Banff and Jasper National Parks, so keep an eye out around every turn. As we take our time along the route, we'll stop for a short hike or two, find a viewpoint worth photographing, and enjoy a picnic lunch in the middle of the Canadian Rockies wilderness. This is the Icefields Parkway the way it's meant to be experienced.

Peyto Lake, shaped like a wolf's head from above, is one of the most visited and photographed lakes in the Canadian Rockies, and it's easy to see why. In summer, glacial rock flour flows into the lake, and these suspended particles give the water its bright turquoise colour. We'll take an easy walk to view the lake from Bow Summit, 2,088 metres (6,800 feet) above sea level, the highest point on the Icefields Parkway and the highest elevation crossed by any public road in Canada.

As the name implies, these "fields of ice" straddle Banff and Jasper National Parks and make up the largest icefield south of the Arctic Circle. The Columbia Icefield covers 325 km² and runs 100 to 365 metres (328 to 1,197 ft) deep, with up to seven metres (275 in) of snowfall a year feeding the ice. Step onto the 10,000-year-old Athabasca Glacier aboard an all-terrain Ice Explorer, where you'll walk on ancient ice.

Bow Lake, a striking shade of blue, is the headwaters of the Bow River, the same river you'll see running through Lake Louise, Banff, and Calgary before eventually reaching Hudson Bay on the other side of the country. The lake lines the Icefields Parkway and makes for a pleasant walk down to the shoreline, with views across to Crowfoot Glacier, Wapta Icefield, Bow Glacier, Crowfoot Mountain, and Mount Thompson.

Walk out onto the glass-floored Columbia Icefield Skywalk, suspended high above the Sunwapta Valley, for a rare, straight-down view of the wilderness below.