The Boundary Ranges, also known in the singular and as the Alaska Boundary Range, are the largest and most northerly subrange of the Coast Mountains. They begin at the

Nass River The Nass River is a river in northern British Columbia, Canada. It flows from the Coast Mountains southwest to Nass Bay, a sidewater of Portland Inlet, which connects to the North Pacific Ocean via the Dixon Entrance. Nass Bay joins Portland In ...

, near the southern end of the Alaska Panhandle in the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

and run to the Kelsall River, near the

Chilkoot Pass Chilkoot Pass (el. ) is a high mountain pass through the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains in the U.S. state of Alaska and British Columbia, Canada. It is the highest point along the Chilkoot Trail that leads from Dyea, Alaska to Bennett La ...

, beyond which are the

Alsek Ranges The Alsek Ranges are the southeasternmost subdivision of the Saint Elias Mountains of the Pacific Cordillera. They span the region between the Alsek River, Glacier Bay and the Kelsall River (which is the route of the highway from Haines, Alaska ...

of the

Saint Elias Mountains The Saint Elias Mountains (french: Chaîne Saint-Élie) are a subgroup of the Pacific Coast Ranges, located in southeastern Alaska in the United States, Southwestern Yukon and the very far northwestern part of British Columbia in Canada. The range ...

, and northwards into the

Yukon Territory Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

flanking the west side of the

Yukon River The Yukon River (Gwichʼin language, Gwich'in: ''Ųųg Han'' or ''Yuk Han'', Central Alaskan Yup'ik language, Yup'ik: ''Kuigpak'', Inupiaq language, Inupiaq: ''Kuukpak'', Deg Xinag language, Deg Xinag: ''Yeqin'', Hän language, Hän: ''Tth'echù' ...

drainage as far as

Champagne Pass Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

, north of which being the

Yukon Ranges The Yukon Ranges are a mountain range comprising the mountains in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Alaska and most of the Yukon in Canada. Named after the Yukon, this range has area of .Skeena Mountains The Skeena Mountains, also known as the Skeenas, are a subrange of the Interior Mountains of northern British Columbia, Canada, essentially flanking the upper basin of the Skeena River. They lie just inland from the southern end of the Boundary ...

and Stikine Plateau of the

Interior Mountains The Interior Mountains or Northern Interior Mountains are the semi-official names for an expansive collection of mountain ranges that comprises much of the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia and a large area of southern Yu ...

complex that lies northwest of the

Interior Plateau The Interior Plateau comprises a large region of the Interior of British Columbia, and lies between the Cariboo and Monashee Mountains on the east, and the Hazelton Mountains, Coast Mountains and Cascade Range on the west.''Landforms of British C ...

; the immediately adjoining subregion of the Stikine Plateau is the

Tahltan Highland The Tahltan Highland is an upland area of plateau and relatively lower mountain ranges in British Columbia, Canada, lying east of the Boundary Ranges and south of the Inklin River (the east fork of the Taku River). Its eastern boundary is formed b ...

. To their northeast is the

Tagish Highland The Tagish Highland is an upland area on the inland side of the northernmost Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains, spanning far northwestern British Columbia from Atlin Lake to the area of the pass at Champagne, Yukon between the Alsek and Yuko ...

, which is a subregion of the

Yukon Plateau The Yukon Plateau is a plateau (also defined as a plain) located in the Yukon Territory, comprising much of the central and southern Yukon Territory and the far northern part of British Columbia, Canada between Tagish Lake (W) and the Cassiar Moun ...

. Both highlands are considered in some descriptions as included in the Coast Mountains. The

Alexander Archipelago The Alexander Archipelago (russian: Архипелаг Александра) is a long archipelago (group of islands) in North America lying off the southeastern coast of Alaska. It contains about 1,100 islands, the tops of submerged coastal m ...

lies offshore and is entirely within

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. The Boundary Ranges include several large icefields, including the

Juneau Icefield The Juneau Icefield is an ice field located just north of Juneau, Alaska, continuing north through the border with British Columbia, extending through an area of in the Coast Range ranging north to south and east to west. The icefield is the so ...

, between the Alaskan city of the same name and

Atlin Lake Atlin Lake ( Lingít: ''Áa Tlein'') is the largest natural lake in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The northern tip of the lake is in Yukon, as is Little Atlin Lake. However, most of the lake lies within the Atlin District of British ...

in B.C.; and the Stikine Icecap, which lies between the lower

Stikine River The Stikine River is a major river in northern British Columbia (BC), Canada and southeastern Alaska in the United States. It drains a large, remote upland area known as the Stikine Country east of the Coast Mountains. Flowing west and south f ...

and the

Whiting River The Whiting River is a stream, about long, in the U.S. state of Alaska and the Canadian province of British Columbia. It enters the waters of Stephens Passage at the Borough of Juneau in the Alaska Panhandle between the mouths of the Taku and St ...

. Some of the highest mountains in the Boundary Ranges are:

Mount Ratz Mount Ratz is a mountain located just west of the Stikine River, about east of the British Columbia-Alaska border. It is the highest peak in the Stikine Icecap and of the Boundary Ranges which in turn form part of the Coast Mountains. It is a ...

, ; Chutine Peak, ; and

Devils Thumb Devils Thumb, or Taalkhunaxhkʼu Shaa in Tlingit language, Tlingit, is a mountain in the Stikine Icecap region of the Alaska–British Columbia border, near Petersburg, Alaska, Petersburg. It is named for its projected thumb-like appearance. Its ...

, , all in the Stikine Icecap region; and

Devils Paw Devils Paw (or Devil's Paw, or Boundary Peak 93) is the high point of the Juneau Icefield, on the Alaska-British Columbia border. It is a part of the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains. It is notable for its steep rise above the low local ...

, , in the

. (Other peaks in the Stikine Icecap are higher than , but they have relatively low

topographic prominence In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contou ...

.) Despite the height of

and its neighbours, most of the Boundary Ranges are considerably lower than the

Pacific Ranges , photo = Mount Garibaldi (50997016501).jpg , photo_size = 280px , photo_caption = Mount Garibaldi massif as seen from Squamish , map = , map_image = South BC-NW USA-relief PacificRanges.png , ...

of the southern Coast Mountains. The larger icefields of the Boundary Ranges are at a much lower elevation than their southern counterparts in the

because of the difference in latitude. Physiographically, they are a section of the larger Pacific Border province, which in turn is part of the larger

Pacific Mountain System The Pacific Coast Ranges (officially gazetted as the Pacific Mountain System in the United States) are the series of mountain ranges that stretch along the West Coast of North America from Alaska south to Northern and Central Mexico. Although th ...

physiographic division. The

granitic A granitoid is a generic term for a diverse category of coarse-grained igneous rocks that consist predominantly of quartz, plagioclase, and alkali feldspar. Granitoids range from plagioclase-rich tonalites to alkali-rich syenites and from quartz- ...

intrusion In geology, an igneous intrusion (or intrusive body or simply intrusion) is a body of intrusive igneous rock that forms by crystallization of magma slowly cooling below the surface of the Earth. Intrusions have a wide variety of forms and com ...

s that form the Boundary Ranges are remnants of a

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the ...

volcanic arc A volcanic arc (also known as a magmatic arc) is a belt of volcanoes formed above a subducting oceanic tectonic plate, with the belt arranged in an arc shape as seen from above. Volcanic arcs typically parallel an oceanic trench, with the arc lo ...

system called the Coast Range Arc.

Subranges

* Boundary Range * Cheja Range * Chechidla Range * Chutine Icefield *

Adam Mountains The Adam Mountains, sometimes called the Adam Range, are a small mountain range in the southeastern extremity of the Alaska Panhandle, in the Ketchikan Gateway Borough near the Halleck Range. It has an area of 50 km2 and is a subrange of t ...

Ashington Range The Ashington Range is a mountain range of the Boundary Ranges in northwestern British Columbia, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean ...

Burniston Range The Burniston Range is a mountain range of the Boundary Ranges in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, located on the northeast side of Portland Canal and north of the Ashington Range The Ashington Range is a mountain range of the Boundary R ...

* Dezadeash Range * Florence Range *

Halleck Range The Halleck Range is a small mountain range in southeastern Alaska, United States, located on the Alaskan side of the Portland Canal. It has an area of 127 km2 and is a subrange of the Boundary Ranges which in turn form part of the Coast Mo ...

* Kahpo Mountains * Kakuhan Range * Lincoln Mountains *

Longview Range The Longview Range is a small mountain range in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, located between Bowser Lake and Surveyors Creek. It has an area of 165 km2 and is a subrange of the Boundary Ranges which in turn form part of the Coa ...

Peabody Mountains The Peabody Mountains is a mountain range in southeastern Alaska located between the lower Portland Canal and the Marten River. It has an area of 1387 km2 and is a subrange of the Boundary Ranges which in turn form part of the Coast Mountai ...

Rousseau Range The Rousseau Range is a small mountain range in southeastern Alaska, United States, located just north of the Peabody Mountains. It has an area of 264 km2 and is a subrange of the Boundary Ranges which in turn form part of the Coast Mountai ...

* Seward Mountains * Snowslide Range *

Spectrum Range The Spectrum Range, formerly called the Spectrum Mountains and the Rainbow Mountains, is a subrange of the Tahltan Highland in the Stikine Country of northwestern British Columbia, 20 km west of the Stewart-Cassiar Highway, south of Mount ...

* Stikine Icecap

Rivers

Rivers draining or transiting the Boundary Ranges include the: *

Chilkat River The Chilkat River is a river in British Columbia and southeastern Alaska that flows southward from the Coast Range to the Chilkat Inlet and ultimately Lynn Canal. It is about long. It begins at Chilkat Glacier, in Alaska, flows west and south i ...

* Choquette River * Craig River *

Iskut River The Iskut River, located in the northwest part of the province of British Columbia is the largest tributary of the Stikine River, entering it about above its entry into Alaska. From its source at Kluachon Lake the Iskut River flows south and wes ...

* Kelsall River * Keta River * King Salmon Creek * Klehini River * Lava Fork *

Porcupine River The Porcupine River (''Ch’ôonjik'' in Gwich’in) is a tributary of the Yukon River in Canada and the United States. It rises in the Ogilvie Mountains north of Dawson City, Yukon, Canada. From there it flows north through the community of ...

* Salmon River * Skagway River *

Taiya River The Taiya River (also Dyea River Taku River The Taku River ( Lingít: ''T'aaḵu Héeni'') is a river running from British Columbia, Canada, to the northwestern coast of North America, at Juneau, Alaska. The river basin spreads across . The Taku is a very productive salmon river and its ...

Tulsequah River The Tulsequah River, formerly the Talsekwe River (Lingít: ''Taaltsux̱éi''), is a tributary of the Taku River in northwestern British Columbia, located south of the Atlin District The Atlin District, also known as the Atlin Country, is a historica ...

Unuk River The Unuk River is a river in the U.S. state of Alaska and the Canadian province of British Columbia. It flows from the Coast Mountains southwest to Behm Canal, northeast of Ketchikan, Alaska. From its headwaters in a heavily glaciated area in ...

References

S. Holland, ''Landforms of British Columbia'', Province of British Columbia, 1976, pp 38-39

map from ''Bulletin 48: Landforms of British Columbia''
* *

External links

Boundary Ranges
of the Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia {{Coast Mountains Mountain ranges of British Columbia Coast Mountains Physiographic sections

Subranges

Rivers

See also

References

External links