Researched route, Icefields Parkway
Icefields Parkway
Along the shore of Bow Lake, 400 m across its south end on the ice, then up north-facing glades below Crowfoot Mountain and Bowcrow Peak.
Crowfoot Glades are the north-facing trees below Crowfoot Mountain and Bowcrow Peak, across Bow Lake's south end from the Icefields Parkway, near Lake Louise. From the Crowfoot Glacier Viewpoint you follow the shore, cross the lake's south end on the ice and climb through the glades: 3.0 km and about 268 m of climbing to where the trees end, at about 2,190 m. It's the common, well documented way to the glades. Where you go and what you ski there is up to you. Two things set this tour apart. The crossing is on lake ice that nobody checks for you, and the glades sit below cliffs and fans that release slides on their own. We built this route from research and haven't skied it ourselves.
We built this route from our own extensive research. All resources are cited on the dashboard. We haven't skied it ourselves, the routes illustrated may not be the best line choice, use your own judgement when planning. Remember you are still responsible for your own tour.
Last checked October 20, 2026.
| Distance | about 6.0 km round trip, 3.0 km to the top of the glades |
| Elevation gain | about 268 m to the top, and about 25 m back up to the car at the end |
| Slope angles | nearly flat for the first 2.3 km; 15 to 25 degrees on the line through the glades; near 30 degrees on short pitches, toward the moraine on skier's left and on the sides of the creek gully; 35 to 59 degrees on the cliffs and fans above the top; terrain data reads low |
| Trailhead | 1,958 m, at the viewpoint |
| Top of the glades | about 2,190 m, where the trees open onto the bench; terrain data reads 2,187 m. Reports to Avalanche Canada place snow pits near the top of the glades at 2,200 to 2,227 m |
| Nearest town | Lake Louise |
| Pass required | Parks Canada |
| Skied by us | Not yet |
From Lake Louise, take the Icefields Parkway north. The Crowfoot Glacier Viewpoint comes up about 32 km and 25 minutes along: a long pull-off on the left, with Bow Lake below it. A guidebook says it's often plowed. Trip reports describe a short, steep bank between the pull-off and the lake, icy where the plows pile the snow, and the climb back up it is the last effort of the day.
A guidebook and trip reports also describe parking on the Parkway's shoulder about 1 to 1.5 km south of the viewpoint, which saves about 1 km of shoreline. Reports describe several cars there on busy days. In March 2024 one party chose the viewpoint instead because snow had narrowed the shoulder, and a December 2025 report suggests bringing a shovel to dig out a spot.
Parks Canada's Dolomite Peak avalanche closure zone covers the slopes across the road from the lake, from the Helen Lake trailhead across from the viewpoint southeast past the stretch where people park on the shoulder. Parks Canada closes the zone during avalanche control, announces it in the headline of Avalanche Canada's forecast, and marks it with signs. Its Icefields Parkway page says avalanche paths along the road are marked as No Stopping Zones, and asks drivers not to stop in them. The viewpoint and our line are on the lake side, outside the zone.
You need a Parks Canada pass to stop anywhere in Banff National Park. The Parkway closes from time to time for avalanche control, so check 511 Alberta before you go. There's no cell service on the Parkway, so leave your plan with someone who isn't coming.
Expect company. Trip reports and Avalanche Canada reports describe several parties on a good day, and avalanche courses use the glades.
From the south end of the viewpoint, drop down the bank to the shore of Bow Lake, about 20 m below. Follow the shore southeast for about 1.1 km, nearly flat, to the open meadows at the south end of the lake. From the shoulder parking, a guidebook and a 2024 trip report describe a short run down through the trees to the same meadows.
Cross the meadows and go through a gap in the trees to the last stretch of the lake, a pool at its south end. Our line crosses it heading south, about 400 m on the ice, to a gap in the trees on the far shore. On the map, the Bow River leaves the east end of this pool. The ice is the first thing under What to think about.
From the south shore, a guidebook and a trip report describe following a short drainage into a flat opening, then a smaller one at the foot of the glades, about 350 m past the shore, where skin tracks often split. Some go east toward a guidebook's Road Facing Chutes, some west into the moraines below the Crowfoot Glacier. Our line goes straight ahead, as trip reports describe, and climbs the forested ridge between two drainages. It's about 0.7 km and 240 m of switchbacks, steady at 15 to 25 degrees on our data, to where the trees thin and open onto a bench at about 2,190 m. Reports describe the track as well set on busy days, sometimes scraped and steep enough that ski crampons would help. A guidebook climbs the drainage to the west instead and skis the glades back to the flat. Both reach the same trees.
Our line ends where the glades end. There's no summit. Above it the bench rolls on toward Crowfoot Pass below Bowcrow Peak, and trip reports and a guidebook describe climbing higher onto the moraines for a longer run, or carrying on to the pass. Those are your choices, and they take you closer to the cliffs and fans described below.
The skiing. The route gets you to the skiing. What you ski is up to you. A guidebook describes the glades as the trees between the two drainages, skied back to the flat at the foot of the climb. It says the fall line pulls skier's right, into the creek gully to the east, and that most parties trend skier's left to come out at the start of the up-track. A 2024 trip report found the upper glades well spaced and the trees tight near the bottom. On a second lap that party skied an open run well out to skier's left, beside the cliffs below the Crowfoot Glacier. Reports to Avalanche Canada describe laps on both sides of the creek gully, in the trees east of it below Bowcrow Peak too. Our read of the terrain data and the aerial photo: the glades face north to northeast, mostly 15 to 25 degrees with short pitches near 30, steepest at their west edge toward the moraine and on the sides of the gully. Slopes are steeper than they appear.
The way out. From wherever your laps end, get back to the up-track at the foot of the glades. From the glades between the drainages, trend skier's left to the flat where the track starts. From the trees east of the creek gully, traverse skier's left back across to the same flat before the trees drop you into the gully or onto the flats by the river. If you do come out on the flats below, a guidebook says to follow them west, upstream, to the lake and pick up the track there. Then follow the track out: north through the short drainage to the lake, back across the pool on your own track, through the gap in the trees to the meadows, northwest along the shore, and up the bank to the viewpoint.
The lake ice. You cross a lake, at the south end where the Bow River flows out. Parks Canada doesn't check natural ice in the park or mark its hazards, and going on it is at your own risk. For walking it recommends ice at least 15 cm thick, and it says grey ice shows water in it and is unsafe. One trip page says ice usually forms early in the winter, but warns of thin spots and that people have gone through. Reports to Avalanche Canada describe soft ice and some open water in late November 2025, when that party went around the lake on the way in and crossed a small section on the way out. Reports in early December 2025 found slushy water under the snow in deeper pole plants, and a few days later water under the surface snow on the crossing. A March 2026 report found open water at the north end of the lake or creek, though travel across was good. A guidebook says the river below the lake is more often open than frozen. Snow on the ice hides all of this. What you find on the ice that day is the only evidence that counts.
The cliffs and fans above the glades. The top of the glades sits below the cliffs of Crowfoot Mountain, under the Crowfoot Glacier, to the southwest, and Bowcrow Peak's northeast face to the southeast. On our terrain data those slopes are 35 to 59 degrees, starting about 160 m from the top of our line, and fans of avalanche debris and rock spread out below them toward the bench. Reports to Avalanche Canada put most of the area's slides here. They describe sluffs and cornice falls off the cliffs and the glacier, some setting off slabs that ran partway down the fans, and natural slides of about size 2 off Bowcrow Peak in March 2024 and off Crowfoot Mountain in January 2024 after mixed rain and wet snow. Some came on days the forecast rated Low in the alpine. One reporter pointed out the runout of slides from the glacier. Most of these released on their own, during or after storms, wind or warming. Go above the top of the glades and you're on or under this terrain.
The glades themselves. Most of the line is below 25 degrees on our data, but reports describe skiing slopes of about 30 degrees and pitches over 30 between about 2,050 and 2,200 m, and slopes are steeper than they appear. People have set off small slabs here. In December 2022 a snowboarder released a wind slab 15 m long and 30 cm deep away from the main runs, and in March 2025 a very small wind slab beneath a clump of trees was likely set off from a skin track. Reports describe whumpfs and cracking on the climb in several winters, and pits with weak, sugary snow near the ground.
The creek gully. The drainage east of the glades is a terrain trap: steep-sided, with the fall line pulling into it, as a guidebook warns. A small slide that would do little on an open slope can pile up deep in a gully.
The chutes to the east. The ridge east of the glades holds a guidebook's Road Facing Chutes, which are steep and short. In March 2024 a party set off a size 1.5 slab in one of them from about 50 m away, and it ran down the chute. Nobody was caught. They're part of the same area, and reports often call all of it Crowfoot Glades.
Wind. Reports describe the glades as sheltered by the rock walls to the west and south, with little wind effect in the trees on days the ridges above were blowing hard, and the alpine above wind affected. They describe wind slabs on rolls at treeline and new snow slabs on the fans.
Rocks, holes and crowds. Early in the season reports describe rocks just under the surface. On a busy day there are several parties and courses on the same slopes, so look at who's above you before you drop in.
At the lake: open water, slush or water in your pole holes, grey ice, cracking. Whatever you find on the way in, you'll cross again on the way out, later in the day.
In the glades and above them: recent slides or cornice falls off the cliffs, new snow or wind loading the fans and rolls, whumpfs or cracking on the climb, rain or a quick warm-up, and parties on the slopes above you. These count the whole way, on the climb, at the top and in the runs. Going above the top of the glades onto the moraines or toward the fans puts you closer to the slopes that release.
Turning around costs little. The car is about 3 km away, nearly all flat or downhill except the bank at the end, though you have to cross the lake again.
Whether to go is your call on the day. Read the forecast and decide from what you find.
About 268 m of climbing, a lake crossing, and tree skiing below avalanche terrain. The climb is short and the glades are mostly moderate, but the crossing asks you to judge the ice yourself, and the cliffs and fans above the top release on their own. We'd bring full avalanche gear, the training to use it, and partners who have both. Ski crampons can help on a scraped skin track.
What we can't tell you yet. How it skis on the day, how the ice is, and how long it takes you. One trip report took about six hours for a longer day to Crowfoot Pass. The dashboard's estimate uses your own pace.