Banff: Columbia Icefield & Glacier Skywalk 3-Hour Tour

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Duration3h

GroupUp to 14

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Walk on a glacier, then stand on glass above it

You board a specialized ice explorer at the Discovery Centre and drive onto the Athabasca Glacier, where you walk on the frozen surface and fill a water bottle with snowmelt. Then you cross the glass-bottomed Glacier Skywalk suspended 918 meters above the valley. The whole experience takes three hours and includes your guide's commentary on glacial geology and climate change. All park access and the guide are included; infants ride free.

Step-by-step itinerary

Columbia Icefield and Glacier Skywalk visit

Board Ice Explorer at Discovery Centre
Travel to Athabasca Glacier
Listen to glacier and ecosystem commentary
Walk on Athabasca Glacier
Fill water bottle with snowmelt
Visit Glacier Skywalk glass walkway
Enjoy views and take photos
Return to Discovery Centre

The Experience

The moment you step onto the Athabasca Glacier, you realize the ice is not white — it's blue. Deep, layered blue, like nothing you've seen on a postcard. The three-hour tour starts at the Columbia Icefield Discovery Centre, where you board a specialized Ice Explorer — a massive vehicle with oversized tires that can grip the frozen surface without sinking. Your driver talks through the route about how glaciers shape the landscape and what's happening to them now, which sounds like it could be dry until you're actually standing on the ice, watching the scale of it sink in. You fill your water bottle straight from the snowmelt running off the glacier, which tastes clean in a way that makes you understand why people make a point of it.

After the glacier walk, you head to the Glacier Skywalk, and this is where the tour surprises you. The walkway has a glass bottom, and you step out onto it knowing there's 918 meters of air below you. It's not a long walk — maybe ten minutes out and back — but it's the kind of moment where your phone comes out and you stand there longer than you planned, just looking. The views stretch across the valley to the peaks beyond, and on a clear day you can see why this part of the Canadian Rockies draws people from everywhere. The whole experience, from the Discovery Centre to walking back inside, runs about three hours, which means you're not rushed but you're also not spending a full day on one attraction.

The tour is wheelchair accessible, and infants ride free (though they need to be ticketed). If weather turns bad — and it can in the mountains — you get offered an alternative date instead of a refund. That's worth knowing because the glacier and the Skywalk are both weather-dependent, and a cloudy day changes what you see. The guide is included, so you're not navigating the ice on your own or wondering what you're looking at. It's straightforward: you show up at the Discovery Centre, you get on the Ice Explorer, you walk on the glacier, you cross the glass, and you're done.

What’s included

Your tour includes a guided drive on the specialized Ice Explorer to the Athabasca Glacier, time to walk on the glacier and fill your water bottle with snowmelt, access to the glass-bottomed Glacier Skywalk, and your guide's commentary on glacial geology and environmental change.
All taxes, fees, and park access are covered.
Infants ride free but must be ticketed.

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleAccessible transportStroller friendlyInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Banff Jasper Collection By Pursuit

Is this one for you?Right for travelers who want to stand on a glacier and cross a glass walkway without spending a full day on logistics — the three-hour window and included guide mean you're not arranging transport or timing yourself. Plan for weather variability; the tour runs subject to favorable conditions, which is what keeps the ice and views safe.