Gaspésie National 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 the ...

located south of the town of

Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, Quebec Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, () is a city in La-Haute-Gaspésie Regional County Municipality, Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine region, Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Lo ...

, Canada in the inland of the

Gaspé peninsula The Gaspé Peninsula, also known as Gaspesia (, ; ), is a peninsula along the south shore of the St. Lawrence River that extends from the Matapedia Valley in Quebec, Canada, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It is separated from New Brunswick on it ...

. The park contains the highest peak of the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

in Canada,

Mont Jacques-Cartier Mount Jacques-Cartier (, ) is a mountain in the Chic-Choc Mountains range in eastern Quebec, Canada. At , it is the tallest mountain in southern Quebec, and the highest mountain in the Canadian Appalachians. The mountain is named after Jacques C ...

, above sea level. In addition, the park contains the only population of

Caribou The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only represe ...

found south of the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrenc ...

in Canada. ParcGaspesie

Geology

There are two major and geologically distinct mountain ranges in the park. The first one, to the west of the St-Anne's River, is the Chic-Choc Mountain range. This range is 600 million years old and was mainly formed from underwater volcanic activity. In contrast, the McGerrigle Mountains are much younger, only 380 million years. From the depths of the sea, magma oozed through cracks in the Earth's crust and then cooled, resulting in a large underground granite

batholith A batholith () is a large mass of intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock (also called plutonic rock), larger than in area, that forms from cooled magma deep in the Earth's crust. Batholiths are almost always made mostly of felsic or intermediate ...

. Over time, the softer sedimentary rocks above the batholith eroded away, leaving only the resistant granite.

is part of this range.

Climate

Owing to the area's elevation and proximity to the

, the climate of the park is very different from the lowlands of Quebec.

Mount Logan Mount Logan ( ) is the highest mountain in Canada and the second-highest peak in North America after Denali (McKinley). The mountain was named after Sir William Edmond Logan, a Canadian geologist and founder of the Geological Survey of Canada ...

, at an altitude of , has an average annual temperature of . This low temperature, combined with the lower pressure at high altitude, causes moisture to condense and fall as rain or snow; in fact, these mountains are the wettest region of Quebec.

Gallery

Lac aux Américains, Parc national de la Gaspésie, Québec, Canada.jpg, Lac aux Américains ParcGaspesie.jpg, Mountains, winter 2008-2009 Mont Jacques-Cartier.JPG, Mount Jacques-Cartier summit Grande Cuve du Mont-Albert, Parc de la Gaspésie, Québec, Canada.jpg, Grande Cuve, Mount Albert Chute Sainte-Anne - 03.jpg, Sainte-Anne waterfall Lac sur le plateau au sommet du Mont-Albert, Parc de la Gaspésie, Québec, Canada.jpg, Lake on the plateau at the summit of Mount Albert

External links

Official site

References

National parks of Quebec Tourist attractions in Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine Hiking trails in Quebec Protected areas of Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine {{Canada-protected-area-stub

Geology

Climate

Gallery

See also

External links

References