The Shuswap Highland is a

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...

-like hilly area of in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. It spans the upland area between the Bonaparte and Thompson Plateaus from the area of Mahood Lake, at the southeast corner of the Cariboo Plateau, southeast towards the lower Shuswap River east of Vernon in the

Okanagan The Okanagan ( ), also known as the Okanagan Valley and sometimes as the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is pa ...

. The highland is not a unified range, but a combination of small uplands broken up by the valleys of the Clearwater, North Thompson and Adams Rivers and also by the lowlands in the southwest flanking

Shuswap Lake Shuswap Lake (pronounced /ˈʃuːʃwɑːp/) is a lake located in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada that drains via the Little Shuswap River into Little Shuswap Lake. Little Shuswap Lake is the source of the South Thompson River ...

. In that area of the valley are the towns of Falkland, Westwold, and

Monte Creek Monte Creek is a rural locality on the South Thompson River east of Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, approximately equidistant from Kamloops and the village of Chase, British Columbia. It is a major highway junction where British Columbia Highwa ...

along

Highway 97 Route 97, or Highway 97, may refer to: Australia - Olympic Dam Highway, South Australia Canada * British Columbia Highway 97 ** British Columbia Highway 97A ** British Columbia Highway 97B ** British Columbia Highway 97C ** British Colu ...

. This area also includes the Spa Hills, and the other isolated pockets of hills and mini-plateaus between the Thompson Plateau proper and Shuswap Lake. The highest point of the Highland is Matterhorn Peak in the

Dunn Peak massif Dunn Peak (sometimes known locally as the Dunn Peaks) is a group of peaks in the central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Its most prominent summit, Matterhorn Peak, rises to , making it the highest point in the Shuswap Highland. Geography Th ...

at 2636 meters. The Shuswap Highland is in essence a foothill (or transitional) area between the much broader interior plateaus southwest and west of it, and the mountainous terrain of the northern Monashee and

Cariboo Mountains The Cariboo Mountains are the northernmost subrange of the Columbia Mountains, which run down into the Spokane area of the United States and include the Selkirks, Monashees and Purcells. The Cariboo Mountains are entirely within the provinc ...

on the east/north-east. Climates here range from sub-alpine in the mountains, especially further north, to a semi-arid, more temperate, continental climate that is found around Shuswap Lake.

References

*S. Holland, ''Landforms of British Columbia'', Province of British Columbia, 1976 * Mountain ranges of the Interior Plateau Shuswap Country Okanagan Thompson Country Cariboo Mountains Monashee Mountains {{BritishColumbiaInterior-geo-stub

See also

References