'Visual symbol of climate change': Mount Robson's Berg Glacier no longer reaches lake

'Visual symbol of climate change': Mount Robson's Berg Glacier no longer reaches lake

Researchers have observed the iconic glacier has separated from the lake and may no longer form icebergs

One of the most picturesque sights in British Columbia is changing, as scientists have found Mount Robson's Berg Glacier has retreated so far back that it no longer touches the water of Berg Lake.

Joseph Shea, an associate professor of geography at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC), noticed the glacier no longer reached the lake when he was leaving a field project on the mountain this summer and snapped a photo.

"It's a very symbolic change," said Shea. "I've been working up in the mountains for years, and the signs of glacier change are very obvious up there."

The Berg Glacier is located on the north face of Mount Robson, which is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies, situated near the Alberta border in central B.C.

Until recently, the glacier reached Berg Lake, where pieces of ice from its lower edge would break free and drop into the lake.

Berg Lake gets its name from the resulting icebergs that can be observed floating on the turquoise-coloured lake, even in the middle of summer.

The area including the 23-kilometre Berg Lake Trail is immensely popular among outdoor enthusiasts, and camping spots typically sell out for the entire summer within a few hours once reservations open in the spring.

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B.C. Parks said the route offers "some of the most spectacular scenery in the province."

Shea says he doesn't expect the separation between the glacier and the lake to decrease the lake's water level — but he says it means Berg Glacier may no longer drop as many icebergs directly into Berg Lake.

"Robson is still going to be a stunning place to visit, so don't think it's going to change the visitor experience that much," he said. "But it is, sort of, a very strong visual symbol of climate change."

Surface area of glaciers being lost

UNBC researcher Brian Menounos has been studying the Berg Glacier as part of his research on glacier melt .

Between 2021 and 2023, he collaborated with the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship on research that found 22 per cent of the surface area of glaciers in Western Canada and Switzerland had been lost between approximately 1985 and 2021.

Large parts of the Berg Lake Trail were also severely damaged by climate change when rapidly melting snow and ice caused flooding during the province's record-breaking heat wave in 2021.

Dozens of hikers were evacuated from the park over the Canada Day long weekend that year because of the extremely high water levels.

The full trail reopened in June 2025 after extensive repair work.

"It was a combination of extreme melt rates as well as extreme precipitation that really led to that disaster and evacuation of hikers," said Shea.

He said part of the work he is doing now is supporting B.C. Parks in setting up real-time weather stations that will collect information on snowpack and temperature, humidity, wind speed, atmospheric pressure and precipitation.

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"Understanding not only the science of why the glaciers are changing, or what conditions are leading to their extreme melt rates, but also that information can feed into park management systems and wildfire forecasting, avalanche forecasting, all that sort of stuff," he said.

"So we're trying to catch a few birds with one stone here with setting weather stations up there in the mountains."

B.C. Parks says real-time data will likely be available in the fall or winter of 2026, and Mount Robson Provincial Park staff will use weather information from the station to support decisions about park operations and have advance warning of potentially dangerous conditions for park visitors.

Hanna Petersen is a reporter for CBC News, working out of the Prince George, B.C., bureau. You can email her at hanna.petersen@cbc.ca.