Banff National Park, Canada

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A rich history of the park dates back thousands of years before a 26 square kilometre national reserve was created around hot sulphur springs discovered near Banff. Today, the area has grown to 6641 square kilometres known worldwide as Banff National Park. Part of a complex chain of national and provincial parks and wilderness areas which together total 5 million acres set aside for posterity, it is one of the world’s largest protected domains. Vast glaciers rimmed with ice, huge forests, and emerald green lakes exhibit some of the most majestic mountain scenery on earth. Bears, wolves and a host of other magnificent animals and birds extend their range throughout the hinterland. Not surprisingly, about 4 million visitors a year explore these parks.

Getting There

Banff National Park is located in the province of Alberta in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. It is situated 128 km (80 miles) west of Calgary, 401 km (250 miles) southwest of Edmonton and 850 km (500 mi) northeast of Vancouver.

The Mountains

The park includes parts of two of the three parallel mountain systems that comprise the Rocky Mountains - the easternmost front ranges, with their slanting tabletop shape, and the casellate Main Ranges - the most complete sequence of sedimentary strata in Canada. Sculpted by glaciers a billion years ago and now separated by wide sweeping valleys and open pine forest, their angular peaks rise as high as 4000 metres of staggering natural beauty. Although the icefields and glaciers do not teem with life, as the forest and alpine zones do, they are the park's main source of water draining into beautiful alpine lakes, or tarns, some of which like Lake Louise are world famous. The picture-perfect Lake Louise sits beneath a vast bowl of mountains and glaciers, its eastern shore site of a giant glacial moraine. The peacock blue of the Rockies' lakes is caused by the particles of glacial silt, which absorbs all but the blue-green range of colours from incoming light.

Flora

The species of vegetation in Banff National Park include an astounding 996 trees, grasses and flowers, 407 lichens, 243 mosses and 53 liverworts. The montane forest is a fairly open forest of Douglas fir, white spruce, pine, aspen and balsam. The sub-alpine forest is more dense and uniform, being almost entirely coniferous, with two kinds of spruce, fir, larch and pine. The alpine tundra area, which occurs above 2195 metres, may appear bleak, but it is a world of beautiful flowers in their dry, cold and wind-swept environment.

Fauna

Ten ecologically important habitats, which support 16 rare and some threatened species, consist of black bear dens, elk, deer, goat and sheep seasonal ranges, wildlife migration corridors, and waterfowl staging and nesting areas. The 29 species of small animals include the ground squirrel, considered the grizzly bear's most reliable prey, the marmot, living at 6800 to 8000 metre elevations, porcupine, beaver, and rock rabbits (Pika) that are often seen on rock slides and talus slopes. In the deer family are the hoofed animals whose antlers fall off and re-grow each year: moose about the size of horses can be seen along the Icefields Parkway; the Wapiti (Elk), the most dangerous animal in the park, the white-tailed deer, and the woodland caribou are all given appropriate protection. The Bighorn rams have massive, permanently spiraled horns, while the all-white mountain goats have short black spikes. Both migrate easily between low grassy slopes and alpine meadows, although the goats prefer a more rugged terrain. Sadly, the wood bison no longer inhabit the park, but plains bison may be viewed in the `Bison Paddock'. Wolverines, pine martens, ermine, the long-tailed weasel, and the fisher can all be seen in forested areas. Wolf, coyote, lynx and cougar, Canada's largest cat, are all rarely sighted and their populations are carefully monitored. Bears that become used to humans are still a safety hazard in spite of the instructions and information the park provides its tourists. Grizzlies inhabit backcountry wilderness, sub-alpine forest and tundra. As part of a comprehensive study, over 20 silvertip grizzlies have been radio-collared. The smaller black bears wander through valley-bottom-forested areas.