Canadian Rocky Mountains,
Alberta, Canada travel, tourism

Canadian Rockies

The Canadian Rocky Mountains form the eastern section of the Canadian Cordillera of the North American Rocky Mountain Range. It is a series of mountain ranges stretching west to the Rocky Mountain Trench in British Columbia, east to the Interior Plains of Alberta, north to the Liard River Valley in Northern B.C. and south to the USA Border.

Alberta, Canada regional map

Much of the Canadian Rockies are protected within the boundaries of national and provincial parklands. The interconnected national parks of Banff, Jasper, Yoho and Kootenay form the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site.

Add the interconnecting British Columbia provincial parks of Mount Assiniboine, Mount Robson and Hamber and, since 1984, they are all recognized as a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Most of the Rocky Mountain parks are interconnected. However, one park stands on its own in the southern section of Alberta, Canada called the Waterton National Park.

All the parks in the Canadian Rockies are popular year round activity destinations. The Alberta parks are developed with resort mountain villages like the communities of Banff, Jasper, Lake Louise and Waterton. All are good launching points for summer and winter adventures.

The Canadian Rocky Mountains is a post card of wilderness landscapes with hanging glaciers, alpine lakes, heritage rivers, cascading waterfalls, rock slides, roaming wildlife, forests of trees and many, many mountain peaks.

The Rocky Mountains of Canada are divided into two sections - the Continental and Northern Rocky Mountain Ranges. The Continental Mountain Ranges include the Kootenay, Front and Park Mountain Ranges. The Northern Rocky Mountain Ranges include the Hart and Muskwa Mountain Ranges.

Some of the highest mountains in the Rocky Mountains on the Canadian side include Mount Robson measuring 3953 metres, Mount Columbia measuring 3747 metres, Mount Assiniboine measuring 3618 metres, Mount Temple measuring 3543 metres and the Snow Dome measuring 3520 metres.

And where there are tall mountains in the Rockies there are impressive glaciers. The Waputik Glacier and Icefield measures over 80 square kilometres. The Columbia Icefield is the most visited glacier by tour companies. Other glaciers and icefields include the Victoria, Peyto, Bow, Crowfoot, Saskatchewan, Wenkchemna, Horseshoe, Hector, Lefroy and Lyell.

Rocky Mountain Communities
Alberta: Banff, Jasper, Lake Louise, Waterton, Canmore, Hinton, Rocky Mountain House, Grand Cache
British Columbia: Golden, Valemont, Invermere, Radium Hot Springs