The Purcell Mountains are a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

in southeastern British Columbia, Canada. They are a subrange of the

Columbia Mountains The Columbia Mountains are a group of mountain ranges along the upper Columbia River in British Columbia, Montana, Idaho and Washington. The mountain range covers 135,952 km² (52,491 sq mi). The range is bounded by the Rocky Mountai ...

, which includes the Selkirk, Monashee, and

Cariboo Mountains The Cariboo Mountains are the northernmost subrange of the Columbia Mountains, which run down into the Spokane area of the United States and include the Selkirks, Monashees and Purcells. The Cariboo Mountains are entirely within the provinc ...

. They are located on the west side of the Rocky Mountain Trench in the area of the

Columbia Valley The Columbia Valley is the name used for a region in the Rocky Mountain Trench near the headwaters of the Columbia River between the town of Golden and the Canal Flats. The main hub of the valley is the town of Invermere. Other towns include ...

, and on the east side of the valley of

Kootenay Lake Kootenay Lake is a lake located in British Columbia, Canada. It is part of the Kootenay River. The lake has been raised by the Corra Linn Dam and has a dike system at the southern end, which, along with industry in the 1950s–70s, has changed ...

and the

Duncan River Duncan River may refer to: Canada *Duncan River (British Columbia) The Duncan River is in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. Entering the North Arm of Kootenay Lake, the river is a major tributary of the Kootenay River, ...

. The only large settlements in the mountains are the Panorama Ski Resort and

Kicking Horse Resort Kicking Horse Mountain Resort (KHMR) is a ski resort located west of Golden, British Columbia, Canada. It features over 120 trails across more than of skiable terrain and a vertical drop, currently the sixth largest of any North American ...

, adjacent to the Columbia Valley towns 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 ...

and Golden, though there are small settlements, such as Yahk and Moyie along the Crowsnest Highway, and residential rural areas dependent on the cities of Creston,

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

and Cranbrook, which are located adjacent to the range. The Purcells are shown on some

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

maps as the Percell Mountains, where their southern limit protrudes into the states of

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and W ...

and

Montana Montana () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West List of regions of the United States#Census Bureau-designated regions and divisions, division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North ...

, abutting

Lake Koocanusa Lake Koocanusa () is a reservoir in British Columbia (Canada) and Montana (United States) formed by the damming of the Kootenai River by the Libby Dam in 1972. The Dam was formally dedicated by President Gerald Ford on August 24, 1975. The l ...

, a reservoir on the Kootenai River. American geographic classifications consider the Percells to be part of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

but in Canada that terminology is reserved for ranges on the east side of the Rocky Mountain Trench. In the Purcell Mountains, most of the peaks are near or above 10,000 feet in elevation. The Purcell Supergroup rocks that make up the Purcells were formed in the

Proterozoic The Proterozoic () is a geological eon spanning the time interval from 2500 to 538.8million years ago. It is the most recent part of the Precambrian "supereon". It is also the longest eon of the Earth's geologic time scale, and it is subdivided ...

eon (in the

Precambrian The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of th ...

period), which spans from 2,500 million years ago to about 540 million years ago.

Sub-ranges

* Carbonate Range * Dogtooth Range * Farnham Group *

MacBeth Group ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those wh ...

* McGillivary Range *

Moyie Range Moyie may refer to * Moyie, British Columbia, a town in Canada * Moyie Springs, Idaho a town in the United States * Moyie (sternwheeler), an 1898 paddle steamer * Moyie Lake, a lake in British Columbia * Moyie River The Moyie River is a long tri ...

Septet Range A septet is a formation containing exactly seven members. It is commonly associated with musical groups but can be applied to any situation where seven similar or related objects are considered a single unit, such as a seven-line stanza of poetry. ...

Spillimacheen Range Spillimacheen is an unincorporated community near the mouth of the Spillimacheen River on the east shore of the Columbia River, in the East Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. The locality, on BC Highway 95, is by road about no ...

Starbird Ridge Star Bird is the name of a toy made from 1978 to 1981. Starbird is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Alfred Starbird Alfred Dodd Starbird (April 28, 1912 – July 28, 1983) was an American modern pentathlete, lieutenant gene ...

Stockdale Group The Stockdale Group is a Silurian lithostratigraphic group (a sequence of rock strata) in the southern Lake District and Howgill Fells of the Pennines of northern England. The name is derived from the locality of Stockdale near the top of Longsle ...

Toby Glacier Toby Glacier is a glacier in the Purcell Mountains of southeastern British Columbia, Canada. It covers an area of . Its main drainage basin is Toby Creek. It is located within Purcell Wilderness Conservancy Provincial Park and Protected Area. Se ...

Truce Group A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state ac ...

* Yahk Range

Highest peaks

The ten highest summits of the PurcellsPurcell Mountains, Peakbagger.com
/ref> # Mount Farnham 3493 m # Jumbo Mountain 3437 m # Howser Spire 3412 m #

Karnak Mountain Karnak Mountain is a mountain summit located west-southwest of Invermere in the Purcell Mountains of southeast British Columbia, Canada. The nearest higher peak is Jumbo Mountain, to the east-northeast, and The Lieutenants is set to t ...

3411 m # Mount Delphine 3406 m # Mount Hammond 3387 m #

Commander Mountain Commander Mountain is a glaciated mountain summit located west-southwest of Invermere in the Purcell Mountains of southeast British Columbia, Canada. It is the seventh-highest mountain in the Purcells. The nearest higher peak is Jumbo Mount ...

3371 m # South Howser Tower 3364 m #

Eyebrow Peak Eyebrow Peak is a prominent glaciated mountain summit located in the Purcell Mountains in southeast British Columbia, Canada. It is the ninth-highest peak in the Purcells. It is situated south of The Bugaboos, west of Invermere, north of ...

3362 m # Mount Peter 3357 m

References

{{Authority control Kootenays

Sub-ranges

Highest peaks

See also

References