Wilcox Pass Hike, Jasper National Park

Located beside the breathtaking Athabasca Glacier on the Icefields Parkway (which will get its own post soon…), Wilcox Pass is an essential hike featuring alpine landscapes, glacier views, and bighorn sheep—even the Parks Canada website mentions them, so they might as well be a guaranteed sight! What’s more, we happened upon a cute little ground squirrel posing for us with a spectacular backdrop.

We stopped at Wilcox Pass on the drive back to Lake Louise from Jasper, near the end of our trip. Since we were doing the full route in a day, we didn’t have the time or energy to do the full 8 km hike—but we really wanted to see some bighorn sheep. So that cloudy afternoon, we set out with the goal of turning around once we had done so.

Climbing out of the forest in about a kilometer, we were immediately treated to grand views of the Athabasca Glacier and the winding Icefields Parkway. The glacier is one of the most magnificent sights I’ve ever seen—I still vividly remember our first encounter with it on the drive up to Jasper. We had turned a few bends after the “Jasper National Park” sign, and suddenly, there it was: an absolutely gigantic spread of ice nestled between multiple towering peaks. From up high on the trail, we could see more of it and hints at the sprawling Columbia Icefield beyond, as well as the giant glacier buses, which looked miniscule.

Parks Canada put some of its iconic red chairs up here, facing the glacier. It’s got to be one of the best locations they’ve chosen.

We were walking in an alpine landscape, surrounded by shrubs and short trees. Soon we would leave even those behind, as we entered the realm of the bighorn sheep. The lush, rolling hills in the foreground contrasted nicely with the rock, ice, and clouds in the distance.

I’m happy to report that the Parks Canada folks are not liars—we did indeed come across bighorn sheep, and a bunch of them too! They came so close to the trail that we had to wait for them to wander off before continuing on.

We followed the herd as they grazed on the picturesque slopes.

Having seen our fill, we turned around. Not long after we stumbled upon what is possibly the most photogenic squirrel in Jasper: it’s like he (I have no idea if it was “he” or “she”, but it’s too cute for “it”) knew about his splendid backdrop and decided to pose for us.

He stood there motionless for quite some time, perhaps wondering if we would feed him. And so one unnecessarily extensive photoshoot—from which I’ve mostly spared you—later, we headed back down the way we came, soaking in views of the glaciers along the way.

To cap it off, here are some flower pictures to balance out the sheep ones. We were a bit late for peak wildflower season (that usually runs mid-July to mid-August) but we still saw some beautiful, albeit isolated patches of them.

Practical tips

• Take a look at the map of Wilcox Pass before you go; as with many hikes in the Rockies, there’s a whole network of side trails and you can explore as much as you’d like. We didn’t get too far (we’ll be back!) but apparently there’s a lake up there too, among other things.
• Make sure to give any wildlife a respectable distance! It’s recommended you stay 30 m away from any large mammal; that might mean waiting on the trail for something to move away. Also, please don’t feed any animals—even the cute ones.

• Resources:

  • AllTrails
  • 10 Adventures
  • Parks Canada