Mount Robson Provincial Park is a provincial park 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 part ...

with an area of 2,249 km². The park is located entirely within

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, ...

, bordering

Jasper National Park Jasper National Park is a national park in Alberta, Canada. It is the largest national park within Alberta's Rocky Mountains spanning . It was established as a national park in 1930 and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. Its locatio ...

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 ...

. The B.C. legislature created the park in 1913, the same year as the first ascent of

Mount Robson Mount Robson is the most prominent mountain in North America's Rocky Mountain range; it is also the highest point in the Canadian Rockies. The mountain is located entirely within Mount Robson Provincial Park of British Columbia, and is part of ...

by a party led by

Conrad Kain Conrad Kain (10 August 1883, Nasswald – 2 February 1934, Cranbrook, British Columbia) was an Austrian mountain guide who guided extensively in Europe, Canada, and New Zealand, and was responsible for the first ascents of more than 60 routes in ...

. It is the second oldest park in the provincial system. The park is named for Mount Robson, which has the highest point in the Canadian Rockies and is located entirely within the park.

History

The first recreational trail was built in 1913 by Jasper outfitter

Donald "Curly" Phillips Donald Nelson "Curly" Phillips (1884-1938) was a Canadian guide, outfitter, entrepreneur, and explorer who was a part of many pioneering expeditions in the northern Canadian Rockies in the early twentieth century. He settled in Jasper, Alberta, a ...

along the

Robson River The Robson River is a short but swift, rapid and waterfall-infested river in Mount Robson Provincial Park of British Columbia. It is a tributary of the Upper Fraser River and it originates near Robson Pass, which divides the Robson River and th ...

to Berg Lake. From May to September, the Mt. Robson Visitor Information Centre is open to the public, and is a common stop on the

Yellowhead Highway The Yellowhead Highway (french: Route Yellowhead) is a major interprovincial highway in Western Canada that runs from Winnipeg to Graham Island off the coast of British Columbia via Saskatoon and Edmonton. It stretches across the four western ...

. The only commercial services within the park are at a combination coffee-shop gas station complex at the same viewpoint. There are two government campgrounds near the Visitor Centre and one near

Yellowhead Pass The Yellowhead Pass is a mountain pass across the Continental Divide of the Americas in the Canadian Rockies. It is located on the provincial boundary between the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, and lies within Jasper ...

Geography

The park spans the

and is located 390 kilometres west of

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

or 290 kilometres east of Prince George. The source of the Fraser River is in Mount Robson Provincial Park. A dripping spring just west of a pond at

Fraser Pass The Fraser Pass is a mountain pass in the British Columbian Rockies of Western Canada. Its summit is above sea level. Although immediately adjacent to the Continental Divide, the pass does not cross it; rather, it bridges the drainage basin ...

is the actual source of British Columbia's longest river. It is located south of the Yellowhead Highway at Lucerne Campground. There are no trails there and the best access is by helicopter from

Valemount Valemount () is a village municipality of 1,018 people in east central British Columbia, Canada, from Kamloops, British Columbia. It is between the Rocky, Monashee, and Cariboo Mountains. It is the nearest community to the west of Jasper Natio ...

Notable features

Notable natural features found in the park include: * Arctomys Cave * Berg Lake *

Kinney Lake Kinney Lake is a lake located in Mount Robson Provincial Park of British Columbia, Canada. The lake can be reached by following the Berg Lake Trail for 4.2 kilometres. The lake is an expansion of the Robson River (a tributary of the upper Fraser ...

* Yellowhead Lake

World Heritage Site

In 1990 Mount Robson Park was included within the

Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks The Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site is located in the Canadian Rockies. It consists of seven contiguous parks including four national parks: * Banff *Jasper * Kootenay * Yoho and three British Columbia provincial parks: * Hamb ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

. Together with the other

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

and

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 the ...

s that comprise the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, the park was recognized for its natural beauty and the geological and ecological significance of its mountain landscapes containing the habitats of rare and endangered species, mountain peaks,

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...

s, lakes, waterfalls,

canyon A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

s, limestone caves and fossils.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1913 establishments in British Columbia Parks in the Canadian Rockies Protected areas established in 1913 Robson Valley