Mount Robson Provincial Park - British Columbia, Canada
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member DougK
N 53° 02.058 W 119° 13.871
11U E 350393 N 5878414
At 3,954 metres, Mount Robson is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. Mount Robson Provincial Park is the second oldest park in British Columbia’s park system.
Waymark Code: WMK571
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 02/14/2014
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member bluesnote
Views: 12

A highlight of the this park is the 13.5 mile (21 km) Berg Lake Trail, at the end of which is a rustic chalet. The trail goes past Kinney Lake, through the Valley of a Thousand Falls and around Mt Robson to Berg Lake, a glacier-fed lake. The area traversed by the Berg Lake Trail can be seen in Google Satellite View. There are seven campgrounds along the way. All hikers must check in at the Mount Robson Visitor Centre.

Info from the Mt Robson Provincial Park website:

With Alberta’s Jasper National Park as its easterly neighbour, Mount Robson Provincial Park comprises a portion of one of the world's largest blocks of protected areas. Designated as a part of the Canadian Rocky Mountains World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1990, Mount Robson provides everything from developed, vehicle-accessible camping to remote valleys that seldom see a human footprint. Mount Robson Provincial Park also protects the headwaters of the Fraser River. From its pristine alpine source, the Fraser River gains strength and size to match any of the world’s major rivers. Future generations will surely appreciate the protection of this great river’s source within Mount Robson Park.

Flora and fauna are typical of the western slope of the Rocky Mountains, North Continental Range. One is able, on some trails, to travel between three different vegetation zones during a day hike. Over 182 species of birds have been documented in the park. All wildlife indigenous in the Rocky Mountain can be found here. Mule and Whitetail Deer, Moose, Elk and Black Bear call the lower elevation home while Grizzly Bear, Caribou, Mountain Goat and Mountain Sheep inhabit the higher elevations. With over 217,000 hectares of mostly undisturbed wilderness available, wildlife populations are allowed to ebb and flow with minimal intervention by humans. There are excellent wildlife viewing opportunities throughout the park. From mountain goats on the many cliffs and rockslides to moose in Moose Marsh, the patient observer will be suitably rewarded.

First attempted in 1907, it was not until 1913 that humans finally stood on the summit of Mount Robson. On that clear, cold day guide Conrad Kain, W.W. Foster and A.H. McCarthy beheld a view no person had ever seen before.

Clickable Link for Background Below

Park Type: Day Use and Overnight

Activities:
Hiking, camping, canning, climbing, cycling, fishing, horseback riding, Cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, wildlife viewing


Background:
History Established by a special act of the British Columbia legislature in 1913, Mount Robson Provincial Park is the second oldest park in the Province of British Columbia's park system. It was designated as a world heritage site, part of the Rocky Mountains World Heritage Site, in 1990 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Mount Robson has a colorful early history of trade and transportation. From the early 1800s with trappers, explorers, hunters, prospectors and ordinary folks seeking the end of the rainbow, to the present day. Transportation is still important through the park with a national highway (Highway 16), a national railway, a national fiber optics system and a major pipeline that connect the prairies to the Pacific Ocean. Now as then, all transportation corridors are confined to a narrow valley bottom strip keeping the vast majority of the park as wilderness. Many locations in the park recognize the role played by early explorers. Magnificent Overland Falls, at the parks western entrance, honours the journey undertaken in 1862 by 115 men and one woman, through the Yellowhead Pass. Cultural Heritage The Texqakallt Nation, the area's earliest known inhabitants of the upper Fraser area, called Mount Robson “Yuh-hai-has-kun” or “The Mountain of the Spiral Road”. This referred to the layered appearance of the huge mountain. Although not always given credit, native peoples played a major role in the early exploration and trading in the Yellowhead Pass - Tete Jaune area. They guided and provided game to those who may have otherwise floundered. Conservation Mount Robson Park provides full representation of the North Continental Ranges’ landscape. The park protects a complex mountain ecosystem represented by four biogeoclimatic zones. From Interior Cedar Hemlock (ICH) in the valley bottoms, the vegetation communities change as the elevation increases. Sub-boreal Spruce (SBS), Englemann Spruce-subalpine Fir (ESSF) and finally up slope to the Alpine Tundra (AT) zone. As these vegetation communities change, so do the birds and animals. The diversity of species is very much a product of elevation change. 182 species of birds have been recorded in the park. Predator/prey relationships are maintained within the 80% of the park-zoned wilderness. Vast areas and intact watersheds carry a wilderness conservation zoning label where all human use is unsupported by facility or trail development. In fact, our most important “customers” in these large wilderness areas are the wide variety of flora and fauna that depend on an undisturbed, intact wilderness. In addition to protecting the largest peak in the entire Canadian Rockies, Mount Robson at 12,972 feet / 3,954 m., the park also protects the imposing Ramparts formation that forms a portion of our border with Jasper National Park. Beautiful, expansive alpine areas, clear rivers, lakes and highly valued wetland habitat is also protected. While big mountains and imposing rock formations inspire and awe us, the main feature of the park, at least from a conservation perspective, is the headwaters of the Fraser River. Protected for all time within Mount Robson Park are the headwaters of one of the world's great rivers. Coming into the province of British Columbia from Alberta, one crosses over a small, crystal clear creek. It's almost beyond belief that this is the same river that empties into the Pacific Ocean, over 1,200 kilometres away in Vancouver. The very source of the great river lies in the south east corner of the park in Fraser Pass. Imagine dipping your cup and drinking the water from the very of start of one of the great rivers on this planet. Future generations will no doubt praise the wisdom of protecting over 100 kilometres of the Fraser River's headwaters within Mount Robson Park. http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/mt_robson/nat_cul.html#History


Date Established?: 1913

Link to Park: [Web Link]

Park Fees: Not listed

Additional Entrance Points: Not Listed

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