Mount Revelstoke National Park
Encyclopedia
Mount Revelstoke National Park is located adjacent to the city of Revelstoke, British Columbia
, Canada
. The park is relatively small for a national park
, covering 260 square kilometres. It is located in the Selkirk Mountains
and was founded in 1914. Approximately 600,000 visitors enter Mount Revelstoke and nearby Glacier National Park
each year.
, a forest type which is rapidly declining outside of protected areas. The park's inland rainforest also has an isolated population of banana slugs which marks the eastern boundary of their distribution in North America.
The park also protects a small herd of the threatened mountain caribou and provides habitat for grizzly bear and mountain goat.
Giant Cedars Boardwalk is a 500 m. (0.3 mi.) interpretive trail that twists through a stand of old-growth western red cedar and hemlock trees, some more than 800 years old. Exhibits along the way explore the secrets of this inland rainforest.
Skunk Cabbage Boardwalk is a 1.2 km. (0.75 mi.) interpretive trail that leads through valley bottom rainforest and fragile wetlands inhabited by muskrats, beavers, bears and the strange skunk cabbage
plant. Exhibits also help to identify the many birds that migrate from South and Central America to the Skunk Cabbage area each year.
Revelstoke, British Columbia
Revelstoke is a city in southeastern British Columbia, Canada. It is located east of Vancouver, and west of Calgary, Alberta. The city is situated on the banks of the Columbia River just south of the Revelstoke Dam and near its confluence with the Illecillewaet River...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The park is relatively small for a national park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
, covering 260 square kilometres. It is located in the Selkirk Mountains
Selkirk Mountains
The Selkirk Mountains are a mountain range spanning the northern portion of the Idaho Panhandle, eastern Washington, and southeastern British Columbia. They begin at Mica Peak near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and extend approximately 320 km north from the border. The range is bounded on its west,...
and was founded in 1914. Approximately 600,000 visitors enter Mount Revelstoke and nearby Glacier National Park
Glacier National Park (Canada)
Glacier National Park is one of seven national parks in British Columbia, and is part of a system of 43 parks and park reserves across Canada. It protects a portion of the Columbia Mountains. It also contains the Rogers Pass National Historic Site, designated for its importance in the construction...
each year.
Climate
The park contains part of the world's only temperate inland rain forest. Steep, rugged mountains can be found in a warm, moist climate. A variety of plant and animal life is typical with stands of old-growth Western Redcedar and Western HemlockTsuga
Tsuga is a genus of conifers in the family Pinaceae. The common name hemlock is derived from a perceived similarity in the smell of its crushed foliage to that of the unrelated plant poison hemlock....
, a forest type which is rapidly declining outside of protected areas. The park's inland rainforest also has an isolated population of banana slugs which marks the eastern boundary of their distribution in North America.
The park also protects a small herd of the threatened mountain caribou and provides habitat for grizzly bear and mountain goat.
Tourism
The Meadows-in-the-Sky Parkway is a paved mountain road open during the snow free months. The parkway begins in the rainforests of the park’s southwest corner, winds upward through the sub-alpine forests and ends in the rolling sub-alpine wildflower meadows. The Monashee Mountains rise to the west, with the Selkirk range to the east.Giant Cedars Boardwalk is a 500 m. (0.3 mi.) interpretive trail that twists through a stand of old-growth western red cedar and hemlock trees, some more than 800 years old. Exhibits along the way explore the secrets of this inland rainforest.
Skunk Cabbage Boardwalk is a 1.2 km. (0.75 mi.) interpretive trail that leads through valley bottom rainforest and fragile wetlands inhabited by muskrats, beavers, bears and the strange skunk cabbage
Western Skunk Cabbage
Western Skunk Cabbage , also called Yellow Skunk Cabbage or Swamp Lantern, is a plant found in swamps and wet woods, along streams and in other wet areas of the Pacific Northwest, where it is one of the few native species in the arum family. The plant is called Skunk Cabbage because of the...
plant. Exhibits also help to identify the many birds that migrate from South and Central America to the Skunk Cabbage area each year.
See also
- National Parks of Canada
- List of National Parks of Canada
- Revelstoke Mountain ResortRevelstoke Mountain ResortRevelstoke Mountain Resort is a ski resort on Mount Mackenzie, just outside Revelstoke, British Columbia in Canada.When complete, the resort will offer about 20 km² of skiable terrain and a vertical drop of 1,845 meters , with 21 lifts and 115 ski and snowboard trails. Revelstoke now offers...