Columbia Mountains

WILDLIFE:

Here is a region where large mammals are still plentiful and where visitors are afforded many fine opportunities for big-game viewing. Most of the mammals of the western mountains are found here. Grizzly and black bear forage on the lush vegetation of avalanche slopes; mountain goats can be seen on sheer cliffs while slightly less daring Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep graze on steep slopes. Mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk and moose share the forests with wolves and cougar and wolverine. Pikas, mantled ground squirrels, hoary marmots and lemmings forage in the alpine meadows. The mountain caribou is disappearing from the region as mature forests are cut.

STATUS OF NATIONAL PARKS:

Two national parks represent this region, Glacier (1,349 km ² ) and Mount Revelstoke (260 km ² ).

These parks preserve a sample of the rugged Columbia Mountains. The sharp peaks, avalanche-scarred slopes and sheets of perpetual ice and snow make these among the most rugged areas of western Canada. Over half of their area is above the tree line, a stark world of ice and rock. Heavy precipitation creates a lush forest of western red cedar and western hemlock in the valleys and feeding over 400 glaciers, some of which are visible from the highway. Plentiful snow and steep slopes combine to make these parks active avalanche areas. The many avalanche slopes provide excellent forage for both black and grizzly bears.

Mount Revelstoke National Park

Nakimu Cave in Glacier National Park, the second biggest cave system in Canada (next in size to Castleguard Cave in Banff National Park), is an underground fantasyland of "moon-milk", black pools and hidden waterfalls.

Natural Region 4

Glacier National Park was established around Rogers Pass in 1886, a year after the Canadian Pacific Railway line had crossed the pass. With access provided by the CPR line, the spectacular mountain scenery and fine opportunities for skiing and mountaineering in this area attracted wealthy visitors before the turn of the century.

North American mountaineering had its beginnings in Glacier National Park, and Mt. Revelstoke is generally acknowledged as the birthplace of alpine skiing in Canada. Mount Revelstoke National Park was established in 1914 after a group of citizens, impressed with its alpine flowers and mountain scenery, lobbied the federal government to preserve the area.