Mount Robson Provincial Park is a provincial park in the

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies () or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part of the Canadian Cordillera, w ...

with an area of 2,249 km. The park is located entirely within

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, bordering

Jasper National Park Jasper National Park, in Alberta, Canada, is the largest national park within Alberta's Rocky Mountains, spanning . It was established as Jasper Forest Park in 1907, renamed as a national park in 1930, and declared a UNESCO world heritage site ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

. The B.C. legislature created the park in 1913, the same year as the first ascent of Mount Robson by a party led by

Conrad Kain Conrad Kain (10 August 1883, Schwarzau im Gebirge, Nasswald – 2 February 1934, Cranbrook, British Columbia) was an Austrian mountain guide who guided extensively in Europe, Canada, and New Zealand, and was responsible for the first ascents of mo ...

. It is the second-oldest park in the provincial system. The park is named for Mount Robson, which has the highest point in the Canadian Rockies and is located entirely within the park.

History

The first recreational trail was built in 1913 by Jasper outfitter Donald "Curly" Phillips along the Robson River to

Berg Lake Berg Lake is a lake on the Robson River just below the river's source located within Mount Robson Provincial Park, at the doorstep of the north face of Mount Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. It is partly fed by the Berg Glacie ...

. From May to September, the Mt. Robson Visitor Information Centre is open to the public, and is a common stop on the

Yellowhead Highway The Yellowhead Highway () is a major interprovincial highway in Western Canada that runs from Winnipeg west to Graham Island off the coast of British Columbia via Saskatoon and Edmonton. It stretches across the four western provinces of Britis ...

. The only commercial services within the park are at a combination coffee-shop gas station complex at the same viewpoint. There are two government campgrounds near the Visitor Centre and one near

Yellowhead Pass The Yellowhead Pass is a mountain pass across the Continental Divide of the Americas in the Canadian Rockies. It is on the provincial boundary between the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, and lies within Jasper Nation ...

Geography

The park spans the

and is located 390 kilometres west of

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

or 290 kilometres east of Prince George. The source of the

Fraser River The Fraser River () is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain (Canada), Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of V ...

is in Mount Robson Provincial Park. A dripping spring just west of a pond at Fraser Pass is the actual source of British Columbia's longest river. It is located south of the Yellowhead Highway at Lucerne Campground. There are no trails there and the best access is by helicopter from Valemount.

Notable features

Notable natural features found in the park include: * Arctomys Cave *

Kinney Lake Kinney Lake is a lake located in Mount Robson Provincial Park of British Columbia, Canada. The lake can be reached by following the Berg Lake Trail for . The lake is an expansion of the Robson River (a tributary of the upper Fraser River) and ...

* Yellowhead Lake

World Heritage Site

In 1990 Mount Robson Park was included within the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. Together with the other

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

and

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 ...

s that comprise the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, the park was recognized for its natural beauty and the geological and ecological significance of its mountain landscapes containing the habitats of rare and endangered species, mountain peaks,

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

s, lakes, waterfalls,

canyon A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency t ...

s, limestone caves and fossils.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1913 establishments in British Columbia Parks in the Canadian Rockies Protected areas established in 1913 Robson Valley Provincial and state parks in the Rocky Mountains