Glacier National Park (Canada)

Glacier National Park
IUCN category II (national park)
Location of Glacier National Park
Location	British Columbia, Canada
Nearest city	Revelstoke, British Columbia
Coordinates	51°18′0″N 117°31′7″W
Area	1,349 km²
Established	1886
Governing body	Parks Canada

Glacier National Park is one of seven national parks in British Columbia, and is part of a system of 43 parks and park reserves across Canada. It protects a portion of the Columbia Mountains. It also contains the Rogers Pass National Historic Site, designated for its importance in the construction and development of Canada's first major national transportation route. It is 1,349 km² (521 sq mi) in area and was established in 1886. It contains extensively glaciated areas.

Terrain and climate

Glacier National Park, as seen from space

Glaciers cover much of the challenging terrain in the park, which is dominated by 10 peaks ranging from 8,530 to 11,120 ft (2,600 to 3,390 m) in height.

Steep, rugged mountains, a wide variety of plant and animal life, and a warm, moist climate are typical of this natural regions.

Peaks of the Hermit Range, the Bonney and Bostock Groups, the Van Horne Range, Purity Range, Dawson Range, and the especially challenging Sir Donald Range all lie wholly or in part within the park. Animals in the park include mountain caribou, mountain goat, grizzly bear, and Canadian lynx.

Facilities

Location in British Columbia

The visitor centre for the park is at Rogers Pass, though information can be found in nearby Revelstoke. There are currently two campgrounds in the park: Illecillewaet Campground (60 vehicle/tent sites) is centrally located near British Columbia Highway 1 and has kitchen shelters and washrooms with flush toilets (no electrical hookups or RV sani-station). Loop Brook Campground (20 vehicle/tent sites) is farther west than Illecillewaet and has similar facilities. A third was closed in the early 1990s due to widespread root rot in the trees. There are two designated backcountry campsites in Glacier National Park with tent pads and food storage poles. A Wilderness Pass is required to camp in the backcountry. With Glacier's deep snowpack, none of the campsites are actively maintained during the winter. There are also three backcountry huts, however the access is arduous, and mountaineering expertise is necessary for two of them.

Rogers Pass

Rogers Pass

The pass was discovered by the American Major A.B. Rogers in 1881. Five years later, after the Canadian Pacific Railway had constructed a railway through the wilderness, the surrounding area was designated a national reserve. In 1885 the railway began operations through Selkirk Mountains, but was not prepared for the frequent avalanches that would roar down the mountains at speeds of over 300 kilometres an hour. When completed, the rail line was at the mercy of avalanches. In 1910 while clearing one slide, another slide came down Avalanche Mountain, killing 62 men. The railway decided that the only way to keep the transportation corridor open was to tunnel under Mount Macdonald thereby eliminating 16 kilometres of the most hazardous railway line.

Today the Trans-Canada Highway system runs through Rogers Pass. Completed in 1962, the highway is now monitored by the most advanced avalanche control system in the world.^{[citation needed]}

The Selkirk Mountains are far older and much harder than the neighbouring Rockies.^{[citation needed]} The Selkirks catch the moist Pacific air from the coast, and Roger Pass gets an average of 1.5 metres of precipitation each year.

Asulkan Hut Trail

The interpretive program in Glacier and Mount Revelstoke National Parks is based at the Rogers Pass Discovery Centre at the summit of Rogers Pass on Highway 1. This national historic site depicts the human history of the region through accounts of first climbs, last spikes, lives lost, and railway lines laid. The Rogers Pass Discovery Centre is open year-round except Christmas Day, and Tuesdays and Wednesdays in November. The centre is the only frontcountry facility open during the spring and winter, while the campgrounds, picnic areas and trails lie under a two-metre blanket of snow. The centre includes a theatre, an exhibit hall with railway models, natural history displays and wildlife specimens, and the Glacier Circle Bookstore.

See also

• National Parks of Canada
• List of National Parks of Canada

External links

• Parks Canada - Glacier National Park
• Parks Canada - Official National Parks and Mountain Guide
• An article on Glacier National Park from The Canadian Encyclopedia