Given the terrain through which it winds, most of the Icefields Parkway is remarkably "well behaved": it's pretty flat, and there are few treacherous areas or steep climbs. One notable exception is a section near the far northern part of Banff National Park, where the road climbs some 700 feet in a short distance. To make this possible, the road bends back on itself in a hairpin turn called the Big Bend, which rises up the uninspiringly-named Big Hill.
The names are dull, but the view is not. This panorama looks south after climbing the hill, showing the parkway snaking far below. This is a classic "U-shaped" glacially-carved valley. I believe the large sloping mountain on the right is Mount Saskatchewan.
The names are dull, but the view is not. This panorama looks south after climbing the hill, showing the parkway snaking far below. This is a classic "U-shaped" glacially-carved valley. I believe the large sloping mountain on the right is Mount Saskatchewan.