Height of the Rockies 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 the

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies (french: Rocheuses canadiennes) or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost par ...

of south eastern

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

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 tota ...

. It is located west of the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, no ...

(in this region, the British Columbia/

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), adjacent to

Elk Lakes Provincial Park Elk Lakes Provincial Park is a provincial park in southeastern British Columbia, Canada, located west of the continental divide (the British Columbia/ Alberta border). It is located adjacent to Height of the Rockies Provincial Park and is ab ...

Description and access

The park comprises Height of the Rockies Provincial Park
BC Parks, retrieved 21 June 2012. in

East Kootenay The Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) is a regional district in the Canadian province of British Columbia, Canada. In the 2016 census, the population was 60,439. Its area is . The regional district offices are in Cranbrook, the larges ...

on the western side of the Continental Divide, which in this region forms the border between British Columbia and Alberta. It borders

, also in British Columbia, to which it is linked by a trail, and

Banff National Park Banff National Park is Canada's oldest national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary, Banff encompasses of mountainous terrain, with many glaciers and ice fields, dense conif ...

and

Peter Lougheed Provincial Park Peter Lougheed Provincial Park is a provincial park located in Alberta, Canada. The park is in Kananaskis Country about west of Calgary, along the Kananaskis Trail. This park is within Alberta's Rocky Mountains. The park was originally named ...

in Alberta.Height of the Rockies Provincial Park
The Kootenay Rockies Region, BC Spaces for Nature, retrieved 21 June 2012. The park lies east of

Invermere Invermere is a community in eastern British Columbia, Canada, near the border of Alberta. It is the hub of the Columbia Valley between Golden to the north and Cranbrook to the south. Invermere sits on the northwest shore of Windermere Lake and ...

; the closest communities are Elkford to the south and

Canal Flats Canal Flats is a village municipality in the East Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. This Columbia Valley community lies between the southern end of Columbia Lake and the northwest shore of the Kootenay River. The locality, on Highw ...

and Radium Hot Springs to the west. The park is accessible on foot or horseback via logging roads and trails to 6 trailheads. All mechanized access is forbidden, and there are no campgrounds or other park services in the park.Bob Hahn, ''Kootenay National Park'', Calgary: Rocky Mountain Books, 2000,
p. 52
The Great Divide Trail passes through the park. The park is an Alpine environment with forested bottomland. It includes several lakes, the

Palliser River The Palliser River is a tributary of the Kootenay River in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is part of the Columbia River basin, as the Kootenay River is a tributary of the Columbia River. The Palliser River is named in honor of John ...

valley, the Middle Fork of the White River, and the Royal Group of mountains. It encompasses 26 peaks over . The highest peak, Mount Joffre (), is on the border with Alberta. There are seven important mountain passes.

Wildlife

The park is important habitat for wildlife, in particular

grizzly bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos hor ...

s, and also contains large numbers of black bears,

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 ...

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whit ...

bighorn sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspe ...

, timber wolves, and

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. I ...

s. There are more than 2,000 elk and one of the highest densities of

mountain goat The mountain goat (''Oreamnos americanus''), also known as the Rocky Mountain goat, is a hoofed mammal endemic to mountainous areas of western North America. A subalpine to alpine species, it is a sure-footed climber commonly seen on cliffs a ...

s in the world.

Cutthroat trout The cutthroat trout is a fish species of the family Salmonidae native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean, Rocky Mountains, and Great Basin in North America. As a member of the genus ''Oncorhynchus'', it is one of the Pacific ...

are plentiful in many lakes and streams and are taken from the park for the Kootenay native species stocking program. Hunting, trapping, and fishing are permitted at controlled levels. The park is at one end of the Southern Rocky Mountain Management Plan, aimed at coordinating ecosystem preservation and providing wildlife corridors, in particular for grizzly bears. Also to provide more comprehensive protection of the environment and wildlife habitat, British Columbia has considered asking the United Nations to add Height of the Rockies and 5 other provincial parks to the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site.

History

The passes through what is now the park were used by the Kootenai Indians and by mid-19th-century European explorers. Two archaeological sites over 8,000 years old have been identified on the Middle Fork of the White River. A national park was proposed early in the 20th century. In 1936 the White River Game Reserve was established. However, construction of logging roads and clearcutting became so extensive in the Southern Canadian Rockies that by 1986, the area that is now the park had become the last major refuge for wildlife in the region. Two provincial environmental organisations, BC Spaces for Nature and the Palliser Wilderness Society, with guide outfitter Hiram Cody Tegart, led a campaign to protect it permanently by making it a wilderness park, and in 1987, after a twelve-year process of negotiation between government, conservationists, hunting guides and outfitters, and logging companies, it became the first Forest Wilderness Area in British Columbia. In 1995 it became a Class A Provincial Park. It was part of the Kootenays regional plan, which created 16 new provincial parks and sought to protect both logging jobs and wilderness areas.David Leyton-Brown, ''Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs, 1995'', Toronto: University of Toronto, 2002,
p. 181

References

External links

Height of the Rockies brochure from campaign to save the area
The Palliser Wilderness Society * {{DEFAULTSORT:Height Of The Rockies Provincial Park Provincial parks of British Columbia Provincial and state parks in the Rocky Mountains Parks in the Regional District of East Kootenay Parks in the Canadian Rockies 1995 establishments in British Columbia Protected areas established in 1995

Description and access

Wildlife

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links