Photo: Frank Kovalchek from Anchorage, Alaska, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
📍 Jasper Difficult
TODAY'S STATUS (OFFICIAL SOURCE)
Open
✅ Fair · 2026-10-13: Wet and muddy sections; Snow patches Parks Canada ↗
8 km
Distance
+390 m
Elevation gain
2–3 h
Time
Difficult
Difficulty
✓
Dogs on leash
The first kilometre climbs steeply through forest, then eases as you pass treeline and reach the wide-open alpine pass. There are views all the way: the Athabasca Glacier, the Columbia Icefield and the surrounding peaks. At 1.2 km is the Red Chairs viewpoint, a good turnaround for something short (2.4 km return).
It's a historic route: Indigenous families and later travellers on horseback used it to bypass an impassable canyon on the Sunwapta River. Today it's named for climber Walter Wilcox.
Parking area on the left of the Wilcox Creek Campground entrance road, 3.1 km south of the Columbia Icefield Centre on the Icefields Parkway.
📍 Parking area by the Wilcox Creek Campground entrance road, 3.1 km south of the Icefield Centre
July to September. Near the Columbia Icefield it's cold and windy even in summer, and it can snow any time of year. Parks Canada notes the pass can be snowy until late July.
Bighorn rams are often seen in the meadows. Keep at least 30 m from bighorn sheep, mountain goats and deer, and 100 m from bears, wolves and cougars.
User experiences, not official information. Always check the official status before you go.
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