Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks
Encyclopedia
The Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site is located in the Canadian Rockies
. It consists of four national parks:
and three British Columbia
provincial park
s:
The parks include mountain
s, glacier
s and hot spring
s and the headwaters of major North American river systems including:
The area is known for its natural beauty and biological diversity. It includes the Burgess Shale
site, a World Heritage Site in its own right from 1980 to 1990, when it was included in the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks WHS designation.
World Heritage Site
in 1984 for the mountain landscapes containing mountain peaks, glacier
s, lakes, waterfalls, canyon
s and limestone caves as well as fossil
s found here (see Burgess Shale
).
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...
. It consists of four national parks:
- BanffBanff National ParkBanff 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...
- JasperJasper National ParkJasper National Park is the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies, spanning 10,878 km² . It is located in the province of Alberta, north of Banff National Park and west of the City of Edmonton. The park includes the glaciers of the Columbia Icefield, hot springs, lakes, waterfalls and...
- KootenayKootenay National ParkKootenay National Park is located in southeastern British Columbia Canada covering in the Canadian Rockies and forms part of a World Heritage Site. The park ranges in elevation from at the south-west park entrance to at Deltaform Mountain...
- YohoYoho National ParkYoho 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...
and three 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...
provincial park
Provincial park
A provincial park is a park under the management of a provincial or territorial government in Canada.While provincial parks are not the same as national parks, their workings are very similar...
s:
- Hamber Provincial ParkHamber Provincial ParkHamber Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, located at the provincial border with Alberta, surrounded on three sides by Jasper National Park.-History:The park was named in honour of Eric W...
- Mount Assiniboine Provincial ParkMount Assiniboine Provincial ParkMount Assiniboine Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, located around Mount Assiniboine.-History:The park was established 1922...
- Mount Robson Provincial ParkMount Robson Provincial ParkMount Robson Provincial Park is a large provincial park in the Canadian Rockies with an area of 2,249 km². The park is located entirely within British Columbia, bordering Jasper National Park in Alberta. The B.C. legislature created the park in 1913, the same year as the first ascent of Mount...
The parks include mountain
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...
s, glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
s and hot spring
Hot spring
A hot spring is a spring that is produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater from the Earth's crust. There are geothermal hot springs in many locations all over the crust of the earth.-Definitions:...
s and the headwaters of major North American river systems including:
- North Saskatchewan RiverSaskatchewan RiverThe Saskatchewan River is a major river in Canada, approximately long, flowing roughly eastward across Saskatchewan and Manitoba to empty into Lake Winnipeg...
- Athabasca RiverAthabasca RiverThe Athabasca River originates from the Columbia Glacier of the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada...
- Columbia RiverColumbia RiverThe Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
- Fraser RiverFraser RiverThe Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...
The area is known for its natural beauty and biological diversity. It includes the Burgess Shale
Burgess Shale
The Burgess Shale Formation, located in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia, is one of the world's most celebrated fossil fields, and the best of its kind. It is famous for the exceptional preservation of the soft parts of its fossils...
site, a World Heritage Site in its own right from 1980 to 1990, when it was included in the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks WHS designation.
World Heritage Site
This area was declared a UNESCOUNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
in 1984 for the mountain landscapes containing mountain peaks, glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
s, lakes, waterfalls, canyon
Canyon
A canyon or gorge is a deep ravine between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Rivers have a natural tendency to reach a baseline elevation, which is the same elevation as the body of water it will eventually drain into. This forms a canyon. Most canyons were formed by a process of...
s and limestone caves as well as fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s found here (see Burgess Shale
Burgess Shale
The Burgess Shale Formation, located in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia, is one of the world's most celebrated fossil fields, and the best of its kind. It is famous for the exceptional preservation of the soft parts of its fossils...
).
See also
- List of National Parks of Canada
- List of World Heritage Sites in the Americas
- List of British Columbia provincial parks
- List of protected areas of Alberta