Peyto Lake and Bow Lake on the way to Abraham Lake
Every Abraham Lake day trip from Banff runs up the Icefields Parkway, and the drive fills half the day. The two lakes most tours stop at look nothing like their summer photos in winter, which is no bad thing. Below, each stop along the road and which tour includes it.
The road north from Lake Louise
From Lake Louise the tours follow the Icefields Parkway north through the high valleys of Banff National Park. In winter the road is quiet and the peaks are white down to the valley floor.
The order of the stops varies by tour and by the day's weather. Vancouver Journey's winter route, for one, stops at Bow Lake on the way north and saves Peyto Lake for the return.
Whatever the order, the bubbles at Abraham Lake are never guaranteed. The parkway lakes are the part of the day that does not depend on clear ice, which is a good reason not to treat them as filler.
Bow Lake and the Crowfoot Glacier
Bow Lake sits right beside the parkway north of Lake Louise. In winter it freezes over and you can walk out onto it, a wide white plain ringed by peaks.
Above it hangs the Crowfoot Glacier, which has its own viewpoint a little way along the road. The ice on Bow Lake is often snow-covered, so do not expect bubbles here; this is a stop for the scale of the mountains.
Vancouver Journey and Rockies Journey both stop at Bow Lake, Rockies Journey for about 30 minutes. Top Choice lists the Bow Lake viewpoint on its route, which it adapts to weather and road conditions.
Peyto Lake from the viewpoint
Peyto Lake is the one in the postcards, a long lake often compared to a wolf's head when seen from the viewpoint high above. In summer it glows turquoise; in winter it is a white shape in a white valley.
In winter the viewpoint is a short walk or snowshoe from the parking area, usually on packed snow. Cleats help here as much as on Abraham Lake, and the railing at the top is where nearly everyone takes the same photo.
Radventures at ~$187 turns it into a snowshoe outing, one of the things that sets its day apart from the vans. Rockies Journey gives Peyto Lake about 30 minutes.
Smaller stops along the way
Not every tour stops at each of these, but you pass most of them on the way. Guides often point them out from the van, and most are worth a look even through the window.
- Crowfoot Glacier viewpoint, a pullout near Bow Lake with the glacier above
- Waterfowl Lakes, two frozen lakes beside the road under steep peaks
- Saskatchewan Crossing, where the parkway meets Highway 11 and the tours turn east for Abraham Lake
- The Weeping Wall, a tall cliff whose seepage freezes in winter; Rockies Journey passes it
East of the crossing, Highway 11 runs along the shore of Abraham Lake itself. The guide picks the spot on the ice from what the wind and snow have done that week.
Two parkway lakes and Abraham for the lowest fare
Vancouver Journey's winter route takes in Bow Lake on the way north and Peyto Lake on the way home, with free crampons for the ice. It scores 4.9 from 540+ reviews on GetYourGuide, and lunch is yours to bring.
Which tour stops where
The listings differ in how much they promise about the route. The table shows what each one says about the winter stops, with the regular price per person.
| Tour | From | Bow Lake | Peyto Lake | Abraham Lake | Also listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vancouver Journey (our pick) | ~$78 | Yes, going north | Yes, on the return | Yes, weather permitting | Nothing else in winter |
| Radventures | ~$187 | Route set by the guide | Snowshoe to the viewpoint | Walk or skate | Route planned on the day |
| Rockies Journey | ~$93 | About 30 min | About 30 min | About an hour, guided walk | Passes the Weeping Wall |
| Top Choice Tours | ~$121 | Viewpoint | Yes | In season | Lake Louise, Bow Falls, Banff town |
Top Choice packs the most into its day, which is why it runs 12–13 hours from Calgary. The vans are the plainest and cheapest, while Radventures trades a fixed list for a guide who adapts the route. The guide to tour types compares those shapes in more detail.
What the summer route adds that winter does not
Several of these listings carry Athabasca Falls or the Columbia Icefield in their titles. Both are summer-route stops further north; in winter the tours turn east at Saskatchewan Crossing and do not reach them.
Read the itinerary for your date rather than the title. If your trip falls outside the Abraham Lake window, you get the falls instead of the bubbles, as the season guide explains.
The same goes for the photos on the listings. Many show turquoise water and autumn falls from the summer route, so judge the winter day by its itinerary and by traveler photos taken between December and March.
Getting the most from the stops
The stops are short and cold, so dress for standing still as much as for walking. The clothing guide covers the layers, and the photo tips work as well at Peyto Lake as on the bubbles.
Take the cleats or crampons to every stop, not only to Abraham Lake. The Peyto trail and the edge of Bow Lake are often packed and slick, and a fall on hard snow hurts as much as one on ice.
If you would rather set your own pace between viewpoints, our self-drive guide weighs a car against a tour. For the full price comparison, see what each tour costs.