The Wapta Icefield is located on the Continental Divide

Continental Divide

The Continental Divide of the Americas, or merely the Continental Gulf of Division or Great Divide, is the name given to the principal, and largely mountainous, hydrological divide of the Americas that separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain...

 in the Canadian Rockies

Canadian Rockies

The Canadian Rockies comprise the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains range. They are the eastern part of the Canadian Cordillera, extending from the Interior Plains of Alberta to the Rocky Mountain Trench of British Columbia. The southern end borders Idaho and Montana of the USA...

, in the provinces of British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

 and Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

. The icefield is shared by Banff

Banff National Park

Banff National Park is Canada's oldest national park, established in 1885 in the Rocky Mountains. The park, located 110–180 kilometres west of Calgary in the province of Alberta, encompasses of mountainous terrain, with numerous glaciers and ice fields, dense coniferous forest, and alpine...

 and Yoho National Park

Yoho National Park

Yoho National Park is located in the Canadian Rocky Mountains along the western slope of the Continental Divide in southeastern British Columbia. Yoho NP is bordered by Kootenay National Park on the southern side and Banff National Park on the eastern side...

s and numerous outlet glaciers extend from the icefield, including the Vulture, Bow

Bow Glacier

Bow Glacier is located in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada, approximately northwest of Lake Louise, and can be viewed from the Icefields Parkway. Bow Glacier is an outflow glacier from the Wapta Icefield, which rests along the Continental divide, and runoff from the glacier supplies water to...

 and Peyto Glacier

Peyto Glacier

Peyto Glacier is located in the Canadian Rockies in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada, approximately northwest of the town of Banff, and can be accessed from the Icefields Parkway. Peyto Glacier is an outflow glacier from the Wapta Icefield, which rests along the Continental divide...

s. Runoff from the icefields and outlet glaciers supply water to both the Kicking Horse

Kicking Horse River

The Kicking Horse River is a river located in the Canadian Rockies of southeastern British Columbia, Canada.The river was named in 1858, when James Hector, a member of the Palliser Expedition, was kicked by his packhorse while exploring the river. Hector survived and named the river and the...

 and Bow River

Bow River

The Bow River is a river in the Canadian province of Alberta. It is a tributary of the South Saskatchewan River, and is considered the headwater of the Nelson River....

s, as well as numerous streams and lakes.

The icefield is one of the most studied in the Canadian Rockies and all evidence supports the conclusion that the icefield is shrinking in area, especially near the lowest altitudes of its outlet glaciers, including Peyto Glacier, in which the glacier has become both shorter in length and thinner in thickness. In the 1980s the icefield covered an area of approximately 80 km² (30 miles²).

The icefield is easily accessible by mountaineers in both the summer and winter. Both ski trips in the winter and glacier hiking trips in the summer often combine a traverse of this icefield with a trip across the Waputik Icefield

Waputik Icefield

The Waputik Icefield is located on the Continental divide in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, in the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta. It is developed on the heights of the Waputik Range in the Central Main Ranges....

 directly to the south.

Glaciers

These are the glaciers that are part of this icefield:

• Peyto Glacier
  Peyto Glacier
  Peyto Glacier is located in the Canadian Rockies in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada, approximately northwest of the town of Banff, and can be accessed from the Icefields Parkway. Peyto Glacier is an outflow glacier from the Wapta Icefield, which rests along the Continental divide...
  
  
• Bow Glacier
  Bow Glacier
  Bow Glacier is located in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada, approximately northwest of Lake Louise, and can be viewed from the Icefields Parkway. Bow Glacier is an outflow glacier from the Wapta Icefield, which rests along the Continental divide, and runoff from the glacier supplies water to...
  
  
• Yoho Glacier
• Vulture Glacier
• The Crowfoot Glacier
  Crowfoot Glacier
  Crowfoot Glacier is located in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada, northwest of Lake Louise, and can be viewed from the Icefields Parkway. The glacier is situated on the northeastern flank of Crowfoot Mountain....
  
   which was once connected to this icefield is no longer part of the Wapta Icefields

Huts

There are two huts which provide accommodation to mountaineers on the Wapta Icefield that are Operated by the Alpine Club of Canada

Alpine Club of Canada

The Alpine Club of Canada is a mountain club with a National Office in Canmore, Alberta that has been a focal point for Canadian mountaineering since its founding in 1906. The club was co-founded by Arthur Oliver Wheeler, who served as its first president, and Elizabeth Parker, a journalist for...

.

• Bow Hut
  Bow hut
  The Bow Hut is an alpine hut located at an elevation of on the eastern edge of the Wapta Icefield in Banff National Park. It is the largest, best equipped, and most accessible of the four alpine huts on the Wapta Icefield, and serves as the base for a wide variety of ski tours and mountaineering...
  
  
• Peter and Catharine Whyte Hut (Peyto Hut)