Parking
Start at the Sunwapta Falls day-use lot, reached by a short access road from the Icefields Parkway. A valid Parks Canada entry pass is required to drive the parkway.
Overview
About Sunwapta Falls Trail
Why go
- Paved path brings you close to the upper falls and its limestone gorge.
- The bridge and fenced viewpoints show the river from more than one angle.
Heads up
- The upper-falls walk is brief; the longer Lower Falls hike is separate.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Icefields Parkway map
Full mapElevation1,393–1,413 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
2 active Icefields Parkway alerts
- ClosureWildfire-impacted area closures in JasperStay out of the closed wildfire-impacted areas in Jasper National Park; access is prohibited or restricted to protect public safety.Official details
- ClosureOpal Hills hiking area closed for grizzly bearThe Opal Hills hiking area is closed because a female grizzly bear with two offspring is in the area. - The closure took effect September 25, 2026, and remains in effect until further notice.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Icefields Parkway Tour Guide
Your drive to Sunwapta Falls Trail, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Icefields Parkway (Highway 93). As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Icefields Parkway audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Sunwapta Falls: Island, Gorge and Lunch0:00 / 0:34
“You're coming up on the access road for Sunwapta Falls. Follow it to the falls parking area for a short walk to the upper bridge and viewpoints.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Icefields Parkway Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- A Frog’s Frozen Winter
- The Wardens’ Cabin Network
- Honeymoon Lake: A Simple Lakeside Night
- The Lichen That Feeds Caribou
- 141 audio storiesacross Icefields Parkway’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Grizzly Bear, Black Bear, Moose, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 54 trails, 57 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Sunwapta Falls Trail
A quick upper-falls walkSunwapta Falls Trail is an easy, roughly 0.
Sunwapta Falls Trail is an easy, roughly 0.27-mile round trip from the day-use lot to the upper waterfall viewpoints, including a short footbridge spur, and back. Allow about 15 minutes for the walk and a look around. Parks Canada describes this path as paved but does not publish its mileage; 0.27 miles is the measured mapped itinerary, so treat it as approximate. The mapped visit stays at the upper falls and returns to the same lot. The Lower Sunwapta Falls hike is a separate, longer route.
Cross the bridge, then find your angleFrom the bridge, the Sunwapta River curves around a treed island before dropping into a narrow…
From the bridge, the Sunwapta River curves around a treed island before dropping into a narrow limestone gorge. A short fenced viewpoint looks toward the brink from another angle. Give yourself time to pause at both views; a quick stop at the first railing misses how the river wraps around the island. For a photo, keep the island and the falling water together so the gorge's shape reads in the frame.
Why the river drops hereParks Canada traces the landscape to glaciers that receded about 8,000 years ago.
Parks Canada traces the landscape to glaciers that receded about 8,000 years ago. Smaller valleys were left hanging above the larger Athabasca Valley; where the Chaba and Athabasca valleys meet, the Sunwapta River steps down into the limestone gorge.
Stay behind the railingsSpray coats the rocks around the gorge with a slippery film.
Spray coats the rocks around the gorge with a slippery film. Keep to the paved paths and stay behind the railings for the views. Dogs can come on leash.
Want a longer walk?Lower Sunwapta Falls is a distinct out-and-back from the same day-use area, not an extension to…
Lower Sunwapta Falls is a distinct out-and-back from the same day-use area, not an extension to include in this route. Parks Canada lists it at 2.6 km with 87 m of gain, about an hour, and moderate difficulty. Choose it when you want a longer hike; keep this short visit to the upper falls.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Icefields Parkway
12 sightingsGrizzly BearMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
127 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
16 sightingsMooseMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
100 sightingsElkMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
34 sightingsMountain GoatMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
53 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 6 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Icefields Parkway. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
