Athabasca Falls is a
waterfall
A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf.
Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...
in
Jasper National Park
Jasper National Park is a national park in Alberta, Canada. It is the largest national park within Alberta's Rocky Mountains spanning . It was established as a national park in 1930 and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. Its locatio ...
on the upper
Athabasca River
The Athabasca River (French: ''Rivière Athabasca'') is a river in Alberta, Canada, which originates at the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park and flows more than before emptying into Lake Athabasca. Much of the land along its banks is pro ...
, approximately south of the townsite of
Jasper, Alberta
Jasper is a specialized municipality and townsite in western Alberta within the Canadian Rockies. The townsite is in the Athabasca River valley and is the commercial centre of Jasper National Park.
History
Established in 1813, Jasper Hou ...
, Canada, and just west of the
Icefields Parkway
Highway 93 is a north–south highway in Alberta, Canada. It is also known as the Banff-Windermere Parkway south of the Trans-Canada Highway ( Highway 1) and the Icefields Parkway north of the Trans-Canada Highway. It travels through ...
.
Geography and geology
Athabasca Falls is a Class 5 waterfall, with a total drop height of and a width of .
[ A powerful, picturesque waterfall, Athabasca Falls is not known so much for its height as for its force, due to the large quantity of water falling into the gorge, which can be substantial even on a cold morning in the fall, when river levels tend to be at their lowest. The river falls over a layer of hard ]quartzite
Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tect ...
and through the softer limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
below, carving a short gorge and a number of potholes.
Access
The falls can be safely viewed and photographed from various viewing platforms and walking trails around the falls. Access is from the nearby parking lot, which leads off Highway 93A just northeast of the falls. Highway 93A takes off from the nearby Icefields Parkway, and crosses the falls on the way north to the town of Jasper. Whitewater rafting often starts below the falls to travel downstream on the Athabasca River to Jasper.
Photo gallery
Image:JNP Athabasca Falls MGB01.jpg,
Image:Athabasca Falls - Glen Larson.jpg,
Image:Athabasca_Falls_2005-06-11.jpeg,
Image:Athabasca_Falls_Closeup.jpg,
Image:Athabasca_Falls_2008.JPG,
Image:Athabasca Falls Fall 2006.jpg,
Image:Athabasca Falls warning sign.jpg, Warning sign
See also
*List of waterfalls of Canada
The following list of waterfalls of Canada include all waterfalls of superlative significance.
Tallest waterfalls
By overall height
, there are 18 confirmed waterfalls with an overall height of at least .
By tallest single drop
, there are 14 ...
References
External links
*Explore Jasper
Athabasca Falls
Jasper National Park
Waterfalls of Alberta
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