The Purcell Mountains are a
mountain range
A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...
in southeastern
British Columbia, Canada.
They are a subrange of the
Columbia Mountains
The Columbia Mountains are a group of mountain ranges along the Upper Columbia River in British Columbia, Montana, Idaho and Washington (state), Washington. The mountain range covers 135,952 km² (52,491 sq mi). The range is bounded by th ...
, which includes the
Selkirk,
Monashee, and
Cariboo Mountains. They are located on the west side of the
Rocky Mountain Trench in the area of the
Columbia Valley, and on the east side of the valley of
Kootenay Lake and the
Duncan River. The only large settlements in the mountains are the
Panorama Ski Resort and
Kicking Horse Resort, adjacent to the Columbia Valley towns of
Invermere and
Golden, though there are small settlements, such as
Yahk and
Moyie along the
Crowsnest Highway, and residential rural areas dependent on the cities of
Creston,
Kimberley
Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to:
Places and historical events
Australia
Queensland
* Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas
South Australia
* County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia
Ta ...
and
Cranbrook, which are located adjacent to the range..
The Purcells are shown on some
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
maps as the Percell Mountains, where their southern limit protrudes into the states of
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...
and
Montana
Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...
, abutting
Lake Koocanusa, a reservoir on the
Kootenai River
The Kootenay River or Kootenai River is a major river of the Northwest Plateau in southeastern British Columbia, Canada, and northern Montana and Idaho in the United States. It is one of the uppermost major tributaries of the Columbia River, ...
.
American geographic classifications consider the Percells to be part of the
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...
but in Canada that terminology is reserved for ranges on the east side of the
Rocky Mountain Trench. In the Purcell Mountains, most of the peaks are near or above 10,000 feet in elevation.
The
Purcell Supergroup rocks that make up the Purcells were formed in the
Proterozoic
The Proterozoic ( ) is the third of the four geologic eons of Earth's history, spanning the time interval from 2500 to 538.8 Mya, and is the longest eon of Earth's geologic time scale. It is preceded by the Archean and followed by the Phanerozo ...
eon (in the
Precambrian
The Precambrian ( ; or pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pC, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of t ...
period), which spans from 2,500 million years ago to about 540 million years ago.
Sub-ranges
*
Carbonate Range
*
Dogtooth Range
*
Farnham Group
*
MacBeth Group
*
McGillivary Range
*
Moyie Range
*
Septet Range
*
Spillimacheen Range
*
Starbird Ridge
*
Stockdale Group
*
Toby Glacier
*
Truce Group
*
Yahk Range
Highest peaks
The ten highest summits of the Purcells:
#
Mount Farnham 3493 m
#
Jumbo Mountain 3437 m
#
Howser Spire 3412 m
#
Karnak Mountain 3411 m
# Mount Delphine 3406 m
# Mount Hammond 3387 m
#
Commander Mountain 3371 m
# South Howser Tower 3364 m
#
Eyebrow Peak 3362 m
# Mount Peter 3357 m
See also
*
The Bugaboos
*
List of mountain ranges in Montana
References
{{Authority control
Kootenays