Taking an Icefield Glacier Adventure tours is the easiest way to stand on the Athabasca Glacier. Operated by Pursuit, the standard tour features a ride on a large all-terrain Ice Explorer vehicle that drives right onto the 10,000 year old glacier ice.
The ticket also includes a visit to the Columbia Icefield Skywalk, a glass bottomed walkway above the highway with unobstructed views of the glacier and surrounding peaks.
Starting in 2025, Pursuit is also running smaller group tours in a 'low emissions' Ice Odyssey vehicle. It is double the price of the standard tour.
Personally, I'd suggest taking a tour with IceWalks instead (also featured in this guide) - they don't use vehicles, which avoids damage to the glacier, and the groups are much smaller too.
A Parks Canada parks pass is required to drive the Icefields Parkway ($22/day for a vehicle of up to 7 people).