Rocky Mountains - October

Sept 30th - last day park is open
Website says admission is free

http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ab/jasper/acti…
Old Fort Point Loop
Trail 1, 3.5 km return (1-2 hours)

Trailhead: From town or from Highway 16, follow Highway 93A to the Old Fort Point/Lac Beauvert access road. Turn left, cross the Athabasca River on the old iron bridge, then park in the lot on the right. Distance to the trailhead from town: 1.6 km.

Old Fort Point is a prominent bedrock hill standing 130 m above the river. Rounded on its south side, cliffy on its north side, Old Fort Point is a classic roche moutonnée: a bedrock knob shaped by glaciers. The loop trail over the top is steep in places, but it provides an excellent view of Jasper and its surroundings.

Maligne Canyon
Trails 7g and 7, 2.1 km one way (1-2 hours)

Trailhead: Fifth Bridge, 8 km east of Jasper via Highway 16 and the Maligne Road.

The Maligne Canyon section of Trail 7 provides the best views of Jasper's famous limestone gorge. Cross the suspension bridge over the Maligne River and keep right at all intersections as you work your way up the canyon, gaining 100 m. (You can start at the top and walk down the canyon trail, but the views are better if you're facing up-canyon.) Water gushes from springs along the way; interpretive signs explain how Maligne Canyon is connected to Medicine Lake, 15 km away, by a cave system.
Keep right at Second Bridge, leaving Trail 7 to follow the short un-numbered interpretive path past the spectacular waterfall at the head of the canyon to the main parking lot.

Toe of the Athabasca Glacier
1 km return (20-30 minutes)

Trailhead: directly across from the Icefield Centre building, turn off Highway 93 onto the access road for the Athabasca Glacier. Turn right soon after, and follow the road down to the parking lot. The trail begins by the interpretive signs in the southwest corner of the lot.

Bring a jacket, gloves and a warm cap to ward off the cold glacial wind. Once across the bridge over a meltwater stream from the glacier, you're walking at times on glacially smoothed limestone surfaces that were under the ice in the 1950s. Scratches and gouges in the rock are aligned with the ice flow.

The trail steepens and reaches the top of a rock bench, where you can see the edge of the glacier just ahead. By all means, approach the iceit's wonderful to be able to actually touch a glacierbut watch where you put your feet! Avoid any places that look wet. You can plunge past your ankles into water-saturated mud known locally as glacial goop. And if you go on the ice itself, stay in the safe area. Read the warning box beside the map.

We’re 4.8km (3m) west of Lacombe. Go 1.6km (1m) west of the Hwy #2 overpass on Hwy 12, then 0.8km (0.5m) south on Range Road 27-3, Exit 422B. Watch for the signs!