You can wander through a steep canyon on an ice walk in Jasper (PHOTOS)

Craving a bucket list experience? An ice walk through a canyon in Jasper National Park is a must-see, with frozen waterfalls and breathtaking views.

Maligne Canyon is a natural wonder year-round, but the ice walk in the canyon is honestly out of this world cool.

You might also like:
• We checked out Jasper's new Forest Park Hotel and this is what we saw (PHOTOS)
• Edmonton named one of the best places to live in Canada
• "The Last of Us" stars can't get enough of this Alberta town they filmed in

Kicking it all off, you begin at the fifth bridge parking lot. After a bit of walking along the trail, you eventually plop down into the start of the canyon. Don’t forget to stop along the trail and admire the mountain views too.

If you decide to forego a tour guide (we highly recommend using one, Maligne Canyon Ice Walks with Pursuit is a great option) be sure to have ice cleats on. It is SLICK down there!

As you start to get deeper into Maligne Canyon, you’ll come across this massive frozen ice form called Queen of Maligne. Isn’t all that ice just stunning?

If you get lucky, you can even catch a climber scaling the massive chunk of ice, really nailing it home just how large the natural formation is compared to the size of a person.

As you venture deeper into the canyon, keep an eye out for fossils along the walls too.

While enjoying the views of the smooth rock, ice, and snow, be mindful of stones or ice above you — you’re in Mother Nature’s territory, and something could come tumbling down at any time. With some of the frozen waterfalls towering at 30 metres, anything can happen. Conditions in the canyon change daily!

If the cold winter months helped create some thick ice, you can make it a decent amount into the canyon past the Queen of Maligne. If you have a guide, they’ll be looking out for any signs of danger. Remember, in some spots, there’s a sheet of ice, 10 feet of air, and then the ground. How wild is that?

You can walk through the canyon’s winter wonderland thanks to a natural phenomenon. Maligne River flows into Medicine Lake upstream, a seasonal lake that fills in the spring due to meltwater but disappears by the fall.

The water disappears in the lake thanks to an underground cave system that transports the water to the canyon, emptying into the canyon through multiple spots. The water only flows from May to December, allowing for the ice walks.

Plenty is still unknown about this cave system, it’s a complete natural wonder.

We could only make it so far in the canyon this go-around, thanks to an ice shelf that collapsed prior to our visit between the third and fourth bridges, leaving a large ice platform unsupported.

Regardless, the views were stunning and we still had access to the most famous photographed spot of the canyon tour where many people nab photos of the gorgeous curvature of the rock above them.

The walk out of the canyon is equally as gorgeous, with a lovely stroll along the water and, if the clouds aren’t in the way, a stunning view of Pyramid Mountain as well.

So, there you have it. When you visit Jasper in the summer or fall months when the ice is long gone and you look down at the steep, STEEP canyon you’ll be amazed you ever made it down there, let alone walked through and got some amazing photos.

The ice walk is usually operational from early to mid-December until the end of March. We definitely consider it one of the best things to do in the Alberta Rockies, period.

The author of this article was hosted by Tourism Jasper