CANADIAN ROCKIES WILDLIFE

The beauty of the Canadian Rockies is breathtaking. Massive mountains, emerald green lakes and rivers, waterfalls, huge forests, glaciers and miles upon miles of absolute natural beauty will astound you. Here, in a land of huge unspoiled wilderness areas, wildlife and natural beauty abound. In the Rocky Mountain towns of Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper, elk and bighorn sheep are a common sight wandering the urban streets, while further afield bears, wolves and more are to be spotted by considerate and careful wanderers.

Bighorn Sheep can often be seen alongside mountain roads. 

Bighorn sheep are some of the most distinctive mammals of the Canadian Rockies. Easily recognized by their impressive horns, they are often seen grazing on grassy mountain slopes or at salt licks beside the road. Bighorn sheep are particularly tolerant of humans and often approach parked vehicles.

 

The Mule Deer is a familiar sight in the Canadian Rockies.

One of the biggest attractions of the Canadian Rockies is the abundance of wildlife, especially large mammals such as moose, bighorn sheep, and bears, which are all widespread and easily viewed throughout the mountains. The animals of the Canadian Rockies are legendary throughout the world for their grandeur, mystique and beauty.
 

Grizzlies, second largest of eight recognized species of bears worldwide (only polar bears are larger), have disappeared from most of North America but are widespread throughout the Canadian Rockies. The bears’ color ranges from light brown to almost black, with dark tan being the most common.

The giant of the deer family is the moose, an awkward-looking mammal that appears to have been designed by a cartoonist. It has the largest antlers of any animal in the world. They are not particularly common in the Canadian Rockies, numbering around 400. Although they may appear docile, moose will attack humans if they feel threatened.

COLUMBIA ICEFIELD

Straddling the boundary between the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, the Columbia Icefield is the largest ice mass in North America, south of the Arctic Circle. Situated in the Canadian Rockies, this ice field covers an area of 130 square miles (365 sq. km.) and has a maximum depth of 1,200 feet (365 m), the height of the Empire State Building in New York City. The average elevation of the ice field is about 10,000 feet (3,000 m). It occupies a high, flat-lying plateau in the form of a huge massif. Its highest points are Mount Columbia at 12,284 feet (3745 m) and Mount Athabasca at 11,452 feet (3,491 m).The largest icefield south of Alaska, shimmering glacial ice and snow cover some 389 sq. km (233 sq. mi.).

The Columbia Icefield is a surviving remnant of the thick ice mass that once mantled most of Western Canada's mountains. Lying on a wide, elevated plateau, it is the largest icefield in the Canadian Rockies. Nearly three-quarters of the park's highest peaks are located close to the icefield; ideally placed to catch much of the moisture that Pacific winds carry across the British Columbia interior. Most of this precipitation falls as snow; up to 7 metres a year!

PEYTO LAKE

Peyto Lake is located in Banff National Park near Bow Summit approximately 38Km north of Lake Louise on the Icefields Parkway. It is one of the treasures in the Canadian Rockies. Peyto Lake gets its beautiful turquoise green color from glacial silt created by the Peyto Glacier and the Wapta Icefield. The 2.8 km length and elevation lake of 1860 m, make this turquoise diamond shape lake perfectly shine in The Canadian Rockies. The best view of Peyto Lake is at look out Bow Summit. This scenic view is about half hour of Lake Louise. It is an unforgettable picture of the summit with a view of this glacier lake on a majestic blue sky. Peyto Lake was named after Bill Peyto who was a historical trapper and trail guide in the late 1800's and early 1900's, in the Banff area.

The amazing blue of Peyto Lake

MT. ROBSON

Measuring 3,954 metres Mt. Robson is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. Located in the Fraser River Valley east of the Robson River; 4 km south of Berg Lake. Major headwater Fraser River. Mount Robson was likely named in 1815 after Colin Robertson, who worked for both the North West Company and the Hudson’s Bay Company at various times in the early 19th century. Other names Cloud Cap Mountain; Snow Cap Mountain, Yuh-hai-has-kun; The Mountain of the Spiral Road.
First successful climber(s): W.M. Foster, A.H. McCarthy, Conrad Kain in 1913.

"Mount Robson is not only the highest mountain in the Canadian Rocky Mountains but one of the great mountains of the world, and deserving of inclusion in any select list on account of many striking characteristics and a form, beauty, and grandeur transcending any other of the greater peaks of the Rockies… The mountain is unique, and its massive precipices, seamed with different-coloured rock strata, enhance it in both beauty and stature." These words were written by Frank Smythe, an English mountaineer who wrote dozens of books about the mountains of the world during the first half of the twentieth century and was widely regarded as an authority on the subject.

MOUNT ASSINIBOINE

Mount Assiniboine, at 11,870ft (3618m), is the tallest mountain in the southern region of the Canadian Rockies. The mountains distinctive pyramidal shape has led to it being referred to as the ‘Matterhorn of North America’. Visible for many miles in every direction, it soars well above other nearby peaks, and serves as the focal point of the Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park, a 386 sq. km reserve created in 1922. 

 

Mt. Assiniboine was given its name by George Dawson, a renowned Canadian scientist, who spotted it from Copper Mountain on the south side of the Bow Valley in 1885. It was named ‘Assiniboine’ as on the day Dawson set eyes on the mountain, a plume of cloud trailed the summit, reminding him of the smoke he had seen rise from the Assiniboine Indians’ tipis. The first successful ascent of Mount Assiniboine to take place. In 1901, the British climber James Outram and Swiss guides, Christian Bohren and Christian Hasler claimed the accolade.

SPIRIT ISLAND

World-famous Spirit Island, on Maligne Lake is the heart and soul of Jasper National Park. Spirit Island is a tiny little island that held a spiritual place for the first Nations people. It's one of the most picturesque spots in the Canadian Rockies which is used for so many photos and postcards. Maligne Lake is surrounded by a circle of rocky peaks.

It is the largest glacially formed and fed lake in the Canadian Rockies and those remnants of the last Ice Age still cling to the cliffs, rest in the cirques and cap off the pinnacles of Maligne Lakes' fabulous ring of 3,360 meter mountains. It is the melt waters of those glaciers that give the lake its' lovely, tranquil-blue colour and that backdrop of lofty peaks which holds back the busy world and provides a calming wilderness experience.