Popular Canadian Rockies attractions

Parks:Peyto Lake, Banff National Park : Five national parks are located within the Canadian Rockies four of which are adjacent and make up the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks. These four parks are Banff Jasper Kootenay and Yoho. The fifth national park waterton is not adjacent to the others. Waterton lies farther south straddling the Canada US border as the Canadian half of the Waterton Glacier International Peace Park. All five of these parks combined with three British columbia provincial parks were declared a single UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984 for the unique mountain landscapes found there.Numerous provincial parks are located in the Canadian Rockies including Hamber Mount Assiniboine and Mount Robson parks. Throughout the Rockies and especially in the national parks the Alpine Club of Canada maintains a series of alpine huts for use by mountaineers and adventurers.



Geology of the Rocky Mountains : The Canadian Rockies are quite different in appearance and geology from the American Rockies to the south of them. The Canadian Rockies are composed of layered sedimentary rock such as limestone and shale whereas the American Rockies are made mostly of metamorphic and igneous rock such as geiss and granite. The Canadian Rockies are overall more jagged than the American Rockies because the Canadian Rockies have been more heavily glaciated resulting in sharply pointed mountains separated by wide U-shaped valleys gauged by glaciers whereas the American Rockies are overall more rounded with river carved V-shaped valleys between them. The Canadian Rockies are cooler and wetter giving them moister soil bigger rivers and more glaciers. The tree line is much lower in the Canadian Rockies than in the American Rockies.

Mountain ranges : The Canadian Rockies are subdivided into numerous mountain  ranges structured in two main groupings the Continental Ranges which has three main subdivisions the Front Range Park Ranges and Kotenay Ranges and the Northern Rockies which comprise two main groupings the Hart Ranges and the Muskwa Ranges. The division point of the two main groupings is at Monkman Pass northwest of Mount Robson and to the southwest of Mount Ovington.

List of rivers of the Canadian Rockies : The Canadian Rockies are noted for being the source of several major river systems and also for the many rivers within the range itself. The Rockies from the divide between the Pacific drainage on the west and that of Hudson Bay and the Arctic Ocean on the east. Of the range's rivers only the Peace River penetrates the range. Notable rivers originating in the Canadian Rockies include the Fraser Columbia North Saskatatchewan Bow and Athabasca Rivers.