Elk Lakes Provincial Park is a
provincial park
Ischigualasto Provincial Park
A provincial park (or territorial park) is a park administered by one of the provinces of a country, as opposed to a national park. They are similar to state parks in other countries. They are typically open to t ...
in southeastern
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, ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, located west of the
continental divide (the
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, ...
/
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
border).
It is located adjacent to
Height of the Rockies Provincial Park
Height of the Rockies Provincial Park is a provincial park in the Canadian Rockies of south eastern British Columbia, Canada. It is located west of the Continental Divide (in this region, the British Columbia/Alberta Border), adjacent to Elk La ...
and is about 104 kilometers north of
Sparwood. The park features sub-alpine landscapes, remnant
glaciers, rugged peaks and productive lakes. Much of the park is above treeline and features several prominent mountains including
Mount Fox, Mount Aosta, Mount McCuaig, and Mount Elkan. The Petain, Castelnau, Nivelle, and Elk Glaciers lie on the northeastern edge of the park. The following lakes are also present inside park boundaries:
Upper and Lower Elk Lake, Frozen Lake, Fox Lake, Cadorna Lake, and Abruzzi Lake.
Below the treeline, the park features mature growth forests of
alpine fir,
Engelmann spruce
''Picea engelmannii'', with the common names Engelmann spruce, white spruce, mountain spruce, and silver spruce, is a species of spruce native to western North America. It is mostly a high-altitude mountain tree but also appears in watered canyon ...
, and
lodgepole pine
''Pinus contorta'', with the common names lodgepole pine and shore pine, and also known as twisted pine, and contorta pine, is a common tree in western North America. It is common near the ocean shore and in dry montane forests to the subalpin ...
. These trees are also intermingled with
juniper,
twinberry, false azalea, white rhododendron, and
buffalo berry
''Shepherdia'', commonly called buffaloberry or bullberry, is a genus of small shrubs in the Elaeagnaceae family. The plants are native to northern and western North America. They are non-legume nitrogen fixers.
''Shepherdia'' is dioecious, wit ...
. The wildlife of the area includes
Beaver,
Snowshoe Hare
The snowshoe hare (''Lepus americanus''), also called the varying hare or snowshoe rabbit, is a species of hare found in North America. It has the name "snowshoe" because of the large size of its hind feet. The animal's feet prevent it from sin ...
,
Red Squirrel,
white-tailed deer
The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...
,
moose
The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult ma ...
, and many varieties of birds.
See also
*
Continental Ranges
The Continental Ranges is a major grouping of mountain ranges in the Rocky Mountains located in eastern British Columbia and western Alberta. It is a physiographic designation for use by geologists and is not used by the general public; it is not ...
References
External links
*
Provincial parks of British Columbia
Parks in the Regional District of East Kootenay
Elk Valley (British Columbia)
1995 establishments in British Columbia
Protected areas established in 1995
{{BritishColumbia-park-stub