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Top 10 Amazing Facts about Mount Edith Cavell, Jasper

Mt. Edith Cavell from Icefields Parkway. Photo by G Yancy.

Mount Edith Cavell is the most outstanding ridge and the most famous place in Jasper National  Parks, specifically due to its signature diagonal rock patterns, renowned alpine wildflowers trails, and fascinating history.

It is the largest peak in Jasper rising to an impressive 3363 meters above sea level and the mountain top is covered with snow throughout the year.

It’s located near the  Athabasca River and Astoria River valleys of Jasper National Park, Canada, and is the most prominent peak entirely within Alberta Ridges.

It is named after a British nurse executed during World War I for her part in helping Allied prisoners escape occupied Brussels.

An earlier name, “La Montagne de la Grande Traverse”, was given to the peak by French-Canadian voyageurs using nearby Athabasca Pass as a fur trade route.

1 Named After a Heroic First World War Nurse

Edith Cavell. Photo by Vivedatica.

Initially, the mountain was well known as Mount Fitzhugh, and in 1916 the mountain was named Edith Cavell.
The mountain was named in honor of a British nurse who was executed by Germany because she helped the allied soldiers to escape from occupied Belgium to the Netherlands, in violation of German law during the first world war.

She helped soldiers on both sides of the divide and she was convinced that patriotism was not enough where there were lives to be saved. She is celebrated by the Anglican Church as a saint on 12th October.

2 An Amazing  Scenery and Serene Recreation Landscape

A photo of Mount Edith Cavell. Photo by Rohit D’Silva on Unsplash

Mount Edith is surrounded by mountains and ridges thus giving it beautiful scenery.
The slopes of the mountain are relatively gentle which is more suitable for tourists to climb and perform other activities.

The mountain offers a serene landscape that is breathtaking and provides a relaxed recreational environment good for adventure lovers such as hiking and camping.

3 A Bloom of Spectacular and Fleeting Alpine Wildflowers 

Alpine Wild Flowers Photo by Photo by Dylan Taylor on

The mountain has a humid environment, which creates an abundant amount of Alpine wildflowers that are at their best in late July and early August depending on the year.
The alpine wildflowers are spectacular but they are fleeting. The best point to view them is at the high-altitude meadows that characterize the upper trails of Mount Edith Cavell.

4 A Gateway to  a Continental Divide- Tonquin Valley

The mountain offers access to the Tonquin Valley trails that can be found about one kilometer before the end of Mount Edith Cavell Road.

Tonquin Valley is a  unique valley with, a continental divide, there is where a water body drains into two water bodies on different continents.

The Tonquin valley creeks drain Moat Lake and flow west into Mount Robson Provincial Park in British Columbia,

The lake empties into the Fraser River while the Astoria River drains south and east into the Athabasca River.

Tonquin Valley is a popular destination for backcountry hikers, ski touring, and horseback trips. There are two outfitters’ camps on the shores of Amethyst Lake.

5 A Stunning “Angel Like Shaped” Glacier on the Sides

Angel Glacier at Mount Edith Cavell Photo by Traveler100.

The mountain is a host to Angel glacier that hangs off the sides of the mountain.It  is a stunning sight, especially  during sunny days as spills over 300 meters (984 ft.) on the north face depicting its glorious white reflection.

The Angel glacier derives its name from a historical mystery about its shape that resembles  an angel who was spreading its wing.

However with global warming effects the bottom half of the glacier has been eroded, and now the only resemblance to the original shape is the wings.

6 Beneath Angel Glacier Lies Cavell Lake

A lake at Mount Edith Cavell Cavell Photo by Photo by Rohit D’Silva on

Beneath Angel Glacier sits a Cavell lake and due to the abundance of glacier silts, the water is otherworldly mint green in color. Small icebergs are floating in the water and visitors are not allowed to approach the lake due to the danger of falling chunks of the glacier.
A huge Serac fell in 2012 unleashing a destructive cascade of water and ice which covered the trail, parking area, and part of Cavell road. It happened at night so there was no injury or death reported.
There is a small stream that empties the lake

7 Formed Out of the Largest World Glacier Erratic in History

The mountain is believed to be one of the largest world erratic glaciers called big rock, and it is located about 450 km away near Okotoks, Alberta.
It is believed that approximately ten thousand years ago a large portion of quartzite stone was stripped away from the mountain and transported by the continental glacier along with the receding Athabasca River Valley glacier to the current location on a plain.

It is believed that one of the world’s largest glacial erratics, called Big Rock, located near Okotoks, Alberta, was once part of Mount Edith Cavell. The erratic was formed approximately ten thousand years ago when a large portion of quartzite stone was stripped away from the mountain along with the receding Athabasca River Valley glacier.

8 A Popular Hiking Destination Due to its Accessibility and Safety

The mountain is considered to be one of the most popular hiking areas in the Jasper region due to its Safe and accessible paths.

The paths serving the mountain numerous trails are well paved thus allowing many people at multiple fitness levels to safely witness the view.
It is one of the most popular hiking areas in Jasper National Park and it’s possible to arrange a guided hike of the trails with local experts.
However, due to glacier drops and avalanches visitors are required to keep to guided trails as opposed to exploratory hikes.

9 Accessed Via a Road with a Unique History 

The mountain is served  by a narrow 14-kilometer road cutting  off the old parkway, this road was built in the 1930a by hundreds of men that were left jobless after the great depression

It brings visitors close to the mountain’s awesome north face, an area famous for interesting moraines, the Cavell Meadows, alpine flowers, and spectacular views of Angel Glacier winding through the Athabasca Valley along the river.

10 It a Host to Several Moraines

The mountain host several moraines in its landscape; moraines are unique polished rock debris and silt left behind when glaciers move, sometimes they leave behind massive heaps of rocks and sediments that form long ridges on the landscape.

The path leading to the mountain portrays one of the fascinating landforms that has been ongoing for over ten thousand years of glacier movement.