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The Columbia Icefield is an icefield located in the Canadian Rockies. The icefield lies partly in the northwestern tip of Banff and the southern end of Jasper National Park. It is about 325 km in area, 100 to 365 meters ( 328 to 1,197ft) in depth and receives up to seven meters ( 275 in) of snowfall per year. The icefield feed eight major glaciers including: of snowfall per year. Part of the icefield, the Athabasca Glacier. is visible from the Icefields Parkway. The Athabasca Glacier has receded significantly since its greatest modern-era extent in 1844. During the summer months visitors to the area can travel onto the glacier in the comfort of large "snowcoaches".
The icefield was first reported in 1898 by J. Norman Collie and Hermann Woolley after they had completed the first ascent of Mount Athabasca. The Athabasca River and the North Saskatchewan River originate in the Columbia Icefield, as do tributary headwaters of the Columbia River.