Mount Revelstoke National Park: landscape and origins
Mount Revelstoke was established in 1914 as Canada’s eighth national park, because local residents wanted to protect the wildflower meadows on the mountain. Its 260 square kilometres (100 sq mi) protect mountains, glaciers, mountain lakes, wetlands and subalpine meadows in the Columbia Mountains.
The park lies entirely in the Selkirk Range. The mountains formed around 250 million years ago when the North American and Pacific plates collided; until about 6,000 years ago they were covered by the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, up to 1,400 m (4,593 ft) thick. Water and ice are still at work on the old igneous and metamorphic rock.
Moist Pacific air drops its rain over the Columbia Mountains. In January 150 to 200 cm (59 to 79 in) of snow falls; July is the warmest and driest month. The mean temperature is about −6 °C (21 °F) in January and 18 °C (64 °F) in July, yet rain in winter and snow in summer are still possible.
Three vegetation zones lie one above the other: the inland rainforest up to about 1,300 m (4,265 ft), the subalpine zone with wildflower meadows above it, and above 1,900 m (6,234 ft) the treeless alpine zone.
Black bears, grizzlies, mountain caribou and mountain goats live in the park, along with marmots, pikas, Columbian ground squirrels and several species of bat. 235 bird species use the area in summer.
The land lies within the territory of the Syilx, Sinixt, Ktunaxa and Secwepemc. In 1885 railway construction made the confluence of the Illecillewaet and the Columbia a focal point; the settlement of Farwell became Revelstoke. In 1908 a trail was built to the summit, and later the road.
Parks Canada: park facts and figures ↗
The park in numbers
- Established
- 1914, Canada’s eighth national park
- Area
- 260 km² (100 sq mi)
- Natural region
- Columbia Mountains, Selkirk Range
- Parkway
- 26 km (16.2 mi) from 470 m (1,542 ft) to 1,835 m (6,020 ft)
- Vegetation zones
- Rainforest, subalpine, alpine
- Cedars
- up to 1,000 years old, up to 4 m (13 ft) in diameter
- Birds
- 235 species in summer
- Snow in January
- 150–200 cm (59–79 in)
- Ski jumping world records
- 1915 to the late 1960s
