Banff National Park (full text)
Banff National Park, Canada's first and the world's third* national park, was established in 1885. It exists largely on account of a geothermal hiccup. Though long-known to indigenous people - there is evidence of human activity in the mountains dating back 11,000 years - in 1883, hot mineral spring caves were discovered by three Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) workers.
What followed were vigorous disputes over ownership. Sir John A. Macdonald intervened in 1885 and the federal government set aside the mineral springs for public use. It was named the Banff Hot Springs Reserve (26 sq km) and situated at the base of Sulphur Mountain.
Photo: Cascade Mountain, near Banff town site. There is coal in there. Bankhead, a coal mining town located at its base by Lake Minnewanka, was built in 1903-04 by the Pacific Coal Company, a subsidiary of the CPR, but deserted by 1924.
There are altitudinal ecoregions in the Canadian Rockies ecological zone: Foothills, Montane (low major valleys and their slopes), Subalpine (heavily forested with thinck canopies and colder with more snow), Krummholz or 'crooked wood' (few stunted, gnarled trees and heath meadow) and Alpine (above the tree line).
In Alberta, roughly from north to south, ecozone classifications are Taiga Shield, Taiga Plains, Boreal Shield, Boreal Plains, Montane Cordillera and Prairie. Montane Cordillera is a broad zone, i.e. all of the mountain ranges on the west side of the Americas, from Alaska to Cape Horn (Chile), and so incudes the Andes and the Rocky Mountains.
Photos: Tree lichen (not moss) probably 'Allectoria.' Other similar lichen are brilliant green (wolf) and Black (Bryoria); Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel; Peyto Lake and Mistaya River valley in a summer smoky with wildfires.
In 1885, when Banff Hot Springs Reserve was created, the national railroad - nearly 3000 miles - was completed. For world travellers of the day, Canada's railroad became the shortest route from Europe to China. In 1888, William Cornelius Van Horne was appointed President of the CPR for his efficient supervision of the railway's construction.
Van Horne's vision was to build grand hotels along the rail line, and particularly in Banff and Lake Louise. It was hoped the lure of luxurious hotels in Canada's remote wilderness would surpass the Swiss Alps as a tourist destination. Also, despite the trains' magnificent dining cars it was also difficult to eat because the steep grade in the Canadian Rockies caused the table settings to carsh. Other small way stations were built for the only purpose of planar dining (e.g., Fraser Canyon House, Glacier House at Rogers Pass and Mt. Stephen House in Field).
Photo: Snowboarders, Mount Norquay
Photos, centre collage (clockwise from top left): Banff Town site & Spray Valley, from Mt. Norquay; historic CP Banff Springs Hotel; deer in townsite; trail ride across Spray River, at Spray/Bow confluence near Bow Falls; Cascade Gardens at Canada Place, Banff.
Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks in Alberta and British Columbia comprise Banff, Jasper, Yoho, and Kootenay national parks (22,990 km), and Hamer, Mt. Assiniboine, and Mt Robson provincial parks. Its total area is over 2 million hectares.** It is stunningly vast.
By 1887, Banff had six hotels, nine stores, two churches, a post office and train station. Today it still has in addition to its many amenities, a rustic way of knowing the park's wildlife, its old street signs: Mountain Goat, Bighorn, Squirrel, Lynx, Wolf, Beaver, Muskrat, Otter, Marmot, Pika, Cougar, Bear, Elk, Deer, Wolverine, Marten, Marmot, Gopher, Grizzly, Moose, Whiskey Jack, Owl, Jay, Hawk, Caribou.*** Parks Canada lists 53 species of mammals, over 260 birds, 19 fish, 4 amphibians and 1 reptile (garter snake).
The park's development was arduous, sometimes wretched, work and its current size and fame at first unsteady.
- In 1887, the reserve was re-named Rocky Mountains Park and enlarged (674 km: Banff town, Devil's Head Lake area, now Lake Minnewanka, at the base of Cascade Mountain).
- It was expanded in 1902 (11,400 sq km: Lake Lousie, Bow/Red Deer/ Kananaskis/ Spray river areas) and reduced in 1911 (4663 sq km: no foothills).
There were other adjustments but in 1930 Parliament enacted the National Parks Act and the park was renamed Banff National Park (6697 sq km).
Photo: Mount Rundle, north face. Named by John Palliser after Reverend Robert Terrill Rundle (1811-98), an early missionary in Alberta, this range looms over the trans-Canada railroad and highway at the eastern boundary of Banff National Park.
... asking random people what the park evokes...
"Banff Centre in the woods."
"The air, it's fresh, clean."
"Larches, kinnickkinnick, all the moss, lichens."
"It's humbling to be around predators."
"Swimming outside, in the winter!"
"Starry."
"It's like a fairy tale - trees with big snowflakes falling."
"It's fearsome. Awe."
"Candy shops."
*The world's first is Yellowstone National Park in the USA (1872); the second is Royal National Park, near Sydney in Australia (1879).
**Additionally, it runs alongside Willmore Wilderness Park (north), White Goat Wilderness Area, Siffleur Wilderness Area, Ghost River Wilderness Are (all east) and Kananaskis Provinicial Park (south) in Alberta, which unofficially contribute another 600,000 hectares.
*** The Woodland Caribou population is in decline. There could be fewer than 5.
Photo cover (front and back): snow slide area at Bow Lake.
References:
Banff Lake Louise Tourism Bureau/ Heritage website, http://www.banfflakelouise.com/
BioDiversity Perspectives, AB Edition. Keewatin Publications, 2005.
Hungry Wolf, Adolph and Beverly. Indian Tribes of the North Rockies. Skookumchuk, BC: Good Medicine Books, 1989.
Luxton, Eleanor G. Banff, Canada's First National Park. Banff, AB: Summerthought, 1975.
Parks Canada, http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/banff/index.aspx
Pole, Graeme. Walks and Easy Hikes in the Canadian Rockies. Canmmore, AB: Altitude Publishing, 1992.
Robinson, Bart. Banff Springs: The Story of a Hotel. Banff, AB: Summerthought, 1973.
Printed in 2005.
Banff National Park, Canada's first and the world's third* national park, was established in 1885. It exists largely on account of a geothermal hiccup. Though long-known to indigenous people - there is evidence of human activity in the mountains dating back 11,000 years - in 1883, hot mineral spring caves were discovered by three Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) workers.
What followed were vigorous disputes over ownership. Sir John A. Macdonald intervened in 1885 and the federal government set aside the mineral springs for public use. It was named the Banff Hot Springs Reserve (26 sq km) and situated at the base of Sulphur Mountain.
Photo: Cascade Mountain, near Banff town site. There is coal in there. Bankhead, a coal mining town located at its base by Lake Minnewanka, was built in 1903-04 by the Pacific Coal Company, a subsidiary of the CPR, but deserted by 1924.
There are altitudinal ecoregions in the Canadian Rockies ecological zone: Foothills, Montane (low major valleys and their slopes), Subalpine (heavily forested with thinck canopies and colder with more snow), Krummholz or 'crooked wood' (few stunted, gnarled trees and heath meadow) and Alpine (above the tree line).
In Alberta, roughly from north to south, ecozone classifications are Taiga Shield, Taiga Plains, Boreal Shield, Boreal Plains, Montane Cordillera and Prairie. Montane Cordillera is a broad zone, i.e. all of the mountain ranges on the west side of the Americas, from Alaska to Cape Horn (Chile), and so incudes the Andes and the Rocky Mountains.
Photos: Tree lichen (not moss) probably 'Allectoria.' Other similar lichen are brilliant green (wolf) and Black (Bryoria); Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel; Peyto Lake and Mistaya River valley in a summer smoky with wildfires.
In 1885, when Banff Hot Springs Reserve was created, the national railroad - nearly 3000 miles - was completed. For world travellers of the day, Canada's railroad became the shortest route from Europe to China. In 1888, William Cornelius Van Horne was appointed President of the CPR for his efficient supervision of the railway's construction.
Van Horne's vision was to build grand hotels along the rail line, and particularly in Banff and Lake Louise. It was hoped the lure of luxurious hotels in Canada's remote wilderness would surpass the Swiss Alps as a tourist destination. Also, despite the trains' magnificent dining cars it was also difficult to eat because the steep grade in the Canadian Rockies caused the table settings to carsh. Other small way stations were built for the only purpose of planar dining (e.g., Fraser Canyon House, Glacier House at Rogers Pass and Mt. Stephen House in Field).
Photo: Snowboarders, Mount Norquay
Photos, centre collage (clockwise from top left): Banff Town site & Spray Valley, from Mt. Norquay; historic CP Banff Springs Hotel; deer in townsite; trail ride across Spray River, at Spray/Bow confluence near Bow Falls; Cascade Gardens at Canada Place, Banff.
Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks in Alberta and British Columbia comprise Banff, Jasper, Yoho, and Kootenay national parks (22,990 km), and Hamer, Mt. Assiniboine, and Mt Robson provincial parks. Its total area is over 2 million hectares.** It is stunningly vast.
By 1887, Banff had six hotels, nine stores, two churches, a post office and train station. Today it still has in addition to its many amenities, a rustic way of knowing the park's wildlife, its old street signs: Mountain Goat, Bighorn, Squirrel, Lynx, Wolf, Beaver, Muskrat, Otter, Marmot, Pika, Cougar, Bear, Elk, Deer, Wolverine, Marten, Marmot, Gopher, Grizzly, Moose, Whiskey Jack, Owl, Jay, Hawk, Caribou.*** Parks Canada lists 53 species of mammals, over 260 birds, 19 fish, 4 amphibians and 1 reptile (garter snake).
The park's development was arduous, sometimes wretched, work and its current size and fame at first unsteady.
- In 1887, the reserve was re-named Rocky Mountains Park and enlarged (674 km: Banff town, Devil's Head Lake area, now Lake Minnewanka, at the base of Cascade Mountain).
- It was expanded in 1902 (11,400 sq km: Lake Lousie, Bow/Red Deer/ Kananaskis/ Spray river areas) and reduced in 1911 (4663 sq km: no foothills).
There were other adjustments but in 1930 Parliament enacted the National Parks Act and the park was renamed Banff National Park (6697 sq km).
Photo: Mount Rundle, north face. Named by John Palliser after Reverend Robert Terrill Rundle (1811-98), an early missionary in Alberta, this range looms over the trans-Canada railroad and highway at the eastern boundary of Banff National Park.
... asking random people what the park evokes...
"Banff Centre in the woods."
"The air, it's fresh, clean."
"Larches, kinnickkinnick, all the moss, lichens."
"It's humbling to be around predators."
"Swimming outside, in the winter!"
"Starry."
"It's like a fairy tale - trees with big snowflakes falling."
"It's fearsome. Awe."
"Candy shops."
*The world's first is Yellowstone National Park in the USA (1872); the second is Royal National Park, near Sydney in Australia (1879).
**Additionally, it runs alongside Willmore Wilderness Park (north), White Goat Wilderness Area, Siffleur Wilderness Area, Ghost River Wilderness Are (all east) and Kananaskis Provinicial Park (south) in Alberta, which unofficially contribute another 600,000 hectares.
*** The Woodland Caribou population is in decline. There could be fewer than 5.
Photo cover (front and back): snow slide area at Bow Lake.
References:
Banff Lake Louise Tourism Bureau/ Heritage website, http://www.banfflakelouise.com/
BioDiversity Perspectives, AB Edition. Keewatin Publications, 2005.
Hungry Wolf, Adolph and Beverly. Indian Tribes of the North Rockies. Skookumchuk, BC: Good Medicine Books, 1989.
Luxton, Eleanor G. Banff, Canada's First National Park. Banff, AB: Summerthought, 1975.
Parks Canada, http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/banff/index.aspx
Pole, Graeme. Walks and Easy Hikes in the Canadian Rockies. Canmmore, AB: Altitude Publishing, 1992.
Robinson, Bart. Banff Springs: The Story of a Hotel. Banff, AB: Summerthought, 1973.
Printed in 2005.
