Perley Rock hike to a glacier in Glacier National Park, Canada

This is Perley Rock - a rewarding hike in Glacier National Park in Canada.

It's challenging but it has something for everyone - beautiful forest, countless streams and waterfalls, fantastic views, some easy scrambling and the main attraction - the spectacular Illecillewaet Glacier. The area is known for its large grizzly bear population but we went quite late in the season and thankfully we haven't had any encounters.

The hike is not very long but it is quite tough - around 14.2 km there and back (according to our AllTrails) with over 1200 meters of elevation gain. What makes it even tougher is the fact that the beginning of the hike is quite easy so the majority of the elevation gain is over a shorter distance.

The glacier itself is spectacular - not only you'll be hiking through a moon-like barren landscape but you can also take a quick cold dip in the freezing cold water beneath the glacier (amazing after a tough hike!). You can peek into numerous ice caves and even walk on the glacier itself. Just bear in mind that the glacier is constantly changing - ice caves can collapse and the surface may be less stable than it seems, especially at the edges!

We’re grateful we could come so close to this behemoth of ice as researchers predict it will be gone by the end of this century. We recommend it if you have the stamina!