Mount Revelstoke National Park is a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

located adjacent to the city of

Revelstoke, British Columbia Revelstoke () is a city in southeastern British Columbia, Canada, with a census population of 8,275 in 2021. Revelstoke is located east of Vancouver, and west of Calgary, Alberta. The city is situated on the banks of the Columbia River just sout ...

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 ...

. The park is relatively small for a

, covering . It is located in the

Selkirk Mountains The Selkirk Mountains are a mountain range spanning the northern portion of the Idaho Panhandle, eastern Washington, and southeastern British Columbia which are part of a larger grouping of mountains, the Columbia Mountains. They begin at Mica Pe ...

and was founded in 1914. Approximately 600,000 visitors enter Mount Revelstoke and nearby Glacier National Park each year.

History

Mount Revelstoke is part of a string of mountain national parks along the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

corridor including Banff, Yoho, and Glacier. Established in 1914, its creation came later than the other mountain national parks which date to the 1880s. The initiative to establish a park was led by local residents of Revelstoke; the mountaineering and skiing clubs worked with municipal officials and the local Progress Club to build the first trail to the summit of Mount Revelstoke in 1910. Park boundaries were extended southward toward the Revelstoke townsite in 1920. A lodge and tea house, known as Heather Lake Lodge, were constructed in the 1930s, and demolished in 1966.

Meadows in the Sky Parkway

The 26-kilometre summit road, now known as the Meadows in the Sky Parkway, was started in 1911, and was completed in 1927. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Parks Commissioner J.B. Harkin authorized the use of interned "enemy aliens", mostly men from the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, on construction projects in the national parks. An internment camp was constructed on the slopes of Mount Revelstoke in 1915. Over 200 interned men worked on the road to the summit, but began to refuse work once cold weather hampered them in the fall. The camp was abandoned and the men moved to other camps in the region.

Skiing

By the early 20th century, Revelstoke had become a popular skiing area, one of the first ski destinations in North America. Mount Revelstoke became the home of a

ski-jumping Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the final ...

facility in 1915; this was expanded to

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

specifications in 1933. Other downhill runs were added, and Mount Revelstoke hosted many international competitions in the first half of the century. The jump was the longest natural jump in Canada, and international records were set there.

Nels Nelsen Nels Nelsen (3 June 1894 – 3 June 1943), born Nils Johan Nilsen and sometimes referred to as Nels Nelson, was a Norwegian-born Canadian ski jumper active between 1916 and 1932. Later he was ski jumping organizer. He was among the world's best ...

was an early supporter of the skiing facilities and set several of the jumping records. The last event was held in 1971, and the ski area was converted to a trail system for hiking and downhill mountain biking.

Climate

The park contains a portion of one of the world's few inland

temperate rain forests Temperate rainforests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rain. Temperate rain forests occur in oceanic moist regions around the world: the Pacific temperate rain forests of North American Pa ...

. Steep, rugged mountains can be found in a warm, moist climate. A variety of plant and animal life is typical with stands of old-growth

Western Redcedar ''Thuja plicata'' is an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to western North America. Its common name is western redcedar (western red cedar in the UK), and it is also called Pacific redcedar, giant arborvitae, w ...

and

Western Hemlock ''Tsuga heterophylla'', the western hemlock or western hemlock-spruce, is a species of hemlock native to the west coast of North America, with its northwestern limit on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and its southeastern limit in northern Sonoma ...

, a forest type which is rapidly declining outside of protected areas. The park's inland rainforest also has an isolated population of

banana slugs Banana slugs are North American terrestrial slugs comprising the genus ''Ariolimax''. MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Ariolimax Mörch, 1859. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p ...

which marks the easternmost boundary of their distribution in British Columbia.

Fauna

This national park protects a small herd of the threatened

caribou Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

as well as providing habitats for

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large Felidae, cat native to the Americas. Its Species distribution, range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mamm ...

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 horri ...

lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...

es,

black bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...

red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the Order (biology), order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe ...

es,

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 mal ...

marten A marten is a weasel-like mammal in the genus ''Martes'' within the subfamily Guloninae, in the family Mustelidae. They have bushy tails and large paws with partially retractile claws. The fur varies from yellowish to dark brown, depending on t ...

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...

s, a variety of

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most ...

s, timber wolves, several species of

shrew Shrews (family Soricidae) are small mole-like mammals classified in the order Eulipotyphla. True shrews are not to be confused with treeshrews, otter shrews, elephant shrews, West Indies shrews, or marsupial shrews, which belong to different fa ...

vole Voles are small rodents that are relatives of lemmings and hamsters, but with a stouter body; a longer, hairy tail; a slightly rounder head; smaller eyes and ears; and differently formed molars (high-crowned with angular cusps instead of low-c ...

s, mice,

wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for "gluttony, glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is ...

s, and

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 and ...

Flora

A variety of wildflowers grow in the park, some of which include

Arctic lupine ''Lupinus arcticus'' is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names Arctic lupine or subalpine lupine. It is native to northwestern North America, where it occurs from Oregon north to Alaska and east to Nunavut.

, glacier lily, pink mountain heather, willowherb, and spotted saxifrage. Wetland plant species that are found in the park include skunk cabbage,

duckweed Lemnoideae is a subfamily of flowering aquatic plants, known as duckweeds, water lentils, or water lenses. They float on or just beneath the surface of still or slow-moving bodies of fresh water and wetlands. Also known as bayroot, they arose ...

, and

horsetail ''Equisetum'' (; horsetail, snake grass, puzzlegrass) is the only living genus in Equisetaceae, a family of ferns, which reproduce by spores rather than seeds. ''Equisetum'' is a "living fossil", the only living genus of the entire subclass Eq ...

. Lichen, moss, and fungi also grow in the park's temperate rainforest habitat.

Tourism

The Meadows-in-the-Sky Parkway is a paved mountain road open during the snow free months. The parkway begins in the rainforests of the park's southwest corner, winds upward through the sub-alpine forests and ends in the rolling sub-alpine wildflower meadows. The Monashee Mountains rise to the west, with the Selkirk range to the east. Giant Cedars Boardwalk is a 500 m. (0.3 mi.) interpretive trail that twists through a stand of old-growth western red cedar and hemlock trees, some more than 800 years old. Exhibits along the way explore the secrets of this inland rainforest. Skunk Cabbage Boardwalk is a 1.2 km. (0.75 mi.) interpretive trail that leads through valley bottom rainforest and fragile wetlands inhabited by muskrats, beavers, bears and the strange

skunk cabbage Skunk cabbage is a common name for several plants and may refer to: * the genus ''Lysichiton'' ** Asian skunk cabbage, ''Lysichiton camtschatcensis'', grows in eastern Asia ** Western skunk cabbage, '' Lysichiton americanus'', grows in western Nor ...

plant. Exhibits also help to identify the many birds that migrate from South and Central America to the Skunk Cabbage area each year.

Gallery

Image:Meadows_sky_parkway.jpg, North of lake Balsam Image:MountRevelstoke1.JPG, View from Eva Lakes Trail Image:millerLakeMtRevelstoke.JPG, Miller Lake from Jade Lakes Trail Image:jadepass.JPG, Jade Pass in early September Image:Revelstoke from Mount Revelstoke.jpg, View of Revelstoke from the summit Mount Revelstoke National Park 01.jpg, Giant Cedars Boardwalk Trail Mount Revelstoke National Park 02.jpg, Giant Cedars Boardwalk Trail Mount Revelstoke National Park 03.jpg, Giant Cedars Boardwalk Trail Mount Revelstoke National Park 04.jpg, Giant Cedars Boardwalk Trail Mount Revelstoke National Park 05.jpg, Giant Cedars Boardwalk Trail Mount Revelstoke National Park 06.jpg, Giant Cedars Boardwalk Trail

References

External links

* * {{Authority control National parks in British Columbia Parks in British Columbia 1914 establishments in British Columbia Revelstoke, British Columbia