360 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT No. 2083 December 4, 1915 Mount RundIe at Banlf, showing monoclinal structure with escarpment on the A Icene in Yoho Park, Mount Stephen on the right and Cathedral Mountain face typical of the eastern ranges of the Rocky Mountains. on the left, taken from Burgess Pass. Parks in the Canadian Cordillera * Physical Features and Attractions in the Canadian National Playgrounds By John A. Allan , CANADA set aside her first mount.ain reserve for the is 11,870 feet, seen in the Matterhorn of tlle Canadian of a series of sharply defined ridges all parallel to onu benetit and pleasure of the people in 1887. To-day there Rockies-Mt. Assiniboine. another which present a steep esearpment on their are eight national playgrounds in the Canadian Cordillera Physiographically there are three very distinct struct­ eastern face and a more genUe slope toward the west. between the Great Plains and the Pacific Ocean . Rocky ural features to be observed within this park. The'first These ridges are huge uptilted fault blocks of rock, the Mountains Park, Yoho, Glacier and Revelstroke Parks of these is the sharp line of demarkation between the low more westerly blocks having been thrust partly over the are situated on the main line of the Canadian Pacific rounded ridge of the inner foothilIs and the gray massive block in front of it. The rocks in these fault blocks range llililway; Jasper Park and Mt. Robson reserve are along Iimcstone mountains, void of vegetation and lightened essentially from Devonian to Cretaceous in age. The the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway; Waterton Lakes Park by patches of snow manteling tl>e upper slopes of the mountains in the western one third of the park are much lies south of the Crows Nest line; and Strathcona Park massifs. This break between these two physically dif­ older and belong to the pre·Cambrian and Cambrian is situated toward the center of Vancouver Island. ferent units is marked by an almost perpendicular periods. These formations have been up-arched into a 2,500 3,000 Three of these parks are in Alberta, the remaining five escarpment, to feet high. So sharp is this broad fold which defines the backbone of the Rocky are in British Columbia. break that it is possible to walk along the extreme eastern Mountains system, as weil as the continental watershed. Rocky Mountains, Yoho, Jasper, Mt. Robson aml hase of the Rock")' Mountains. This f('ature is partil�­ The rocks in this portion are for the most part Iying 49 52 Waterton Lakes Park lie within the Uocky Mountain ularly noticeable between latitudes and degreps. nearly horizontal. 'l'here is a sharp break which is re­ system of the Cordillera; whereas Glacier Park is in the This escarpment marks the front of an overthrust block presented by a fault between the YOllnger formations on Selkirks and Revelstroke Park is along the edges of tbe which when the mountains were uplifted was thrust in the east and the older formations on the west. The rocks Selkirk and Columbia ranges. pi aces several roiles over the plains to the east. At the within this park are entirely of sedimentary origin. From a scenic point of view these parks are all different base of the escarpment ia exposed the overthnlst fault Banff and Lake Louise (Laggan) although only 34 and yet aU attractive in various respects. Each of these which farther south is called the "Lewis Thrust." miles apart are very difforent as to locatiun and scenery. pleasure grounda will be brießy mentioned. Within the eastern edge of the park along this fault the The former is situated in the second range of the Rocky Cambrian beds are thrust over the lower Cretaceous Mountains, on tbe ßoor oE the Bow VaUey at an elevation THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS PARK.1 formations. of 4,542 feet above sea-level. Banff is the beadquarters The Rocky Mountains Park of Canada is the largest The otber two structural features of note within tbe of the park with inclosures containing aU varieties of and .Dldest of the Dominion national playgrounds. By park a.re to be found in the mounta.ins themselves; two mOlmtain animals including several buffalo. It also an Act of Parliament in 1887 an area comprising 260 thirds of the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains consist contains a museum, meteorological station, headquarters square miles was "reserved and set apart as a public of the Royal North West Mounted Police and the only park and pleasureground for the benefit, advantage and food distributing center for the entire park. enjoyment of the people of Canada." In 1902 this Lake Louise is situated at an altitude of 5,670 feet reservation was enlarged to include 4,900 square mHes, above searlevel and 533 feet above the railway at but as this was found to be too large an area to preserve Laggan. The scenic features are kuly Alpine, consisting . properly, tbe boundaries were reduced in 1911 to inclose of a valley closed at one end by 11. glacier, surrounded by 1,800 square miles, wbicb is the present size of this world­ rugged mountains of ßat-Iying quartzites, limestones known playground . and shales, whose summits average over 10,500 feet, and Tbis reservation lies entirely on the east slope of the fringed with perpendicular cliffs or more gracefully Rocky Mountain system in tbe Province of Alberta and curved slopes heavily timbered. The fioor of the vaUey extends from tbe western edge of the plains westward contains a lake of matchless beauty and the outlet of to tbe summit of the Rocky Mountains, which is also the the valley hangs 600 feet above the ßoor of the Bow continental watershed. valley. This park includes the entire drainage basin of the The bighest and most prominent mountains are found Bow River witbin the Rocky Mountains and has roughly on or close to the continental divide. The most lofty the form of an isosceles triangle with the base nmning peaks include Mt. Assiniboine (11,870 feet); Mt. Temple in a northeast and southwest direction. The gateway to (11,626); Mt. Hungabee (11,447); Mt. Victoria (11,355); the park from the plains is also a natural portal to the Mt. Deltaform (11,225); Mt. Lefroy (11,220); Mt. Ball mountains and is known as the Gap. (1O,825); Mt. Balfour (10,731); Mt. Fay (10,612); Mt. This reservation is commonly known as "Banff Park" Aberdeen (10,340); Storm Mountain (10,309). sinoe it includes the town of BantT, one of the best known Among the many lakes of special individual scenic and most popular mountain tourist resorts in N orth beauty tbat attract the tourist are Louise, Minnewanka, America. Vermilion, Bow, Hector, Spray, Sbadow and Moraine Banff and Lake Louise, both weU known resorts in the Lake in the valley of the Tean Peaks. Canadian Rockies, are the only two distributing centers Within the limits of the park there are 300 miles of ror tourists within this park. trails wbich are frequently traveled, and over 125 miles The Rocky Mountains Park contains many features of carriage road .. The government has taken steps to that would attract the general public, tbe nature lover, . eneourage trail travel by the erection of cabins at various the artist or the scientist. It embraces the most rugged, points along certain trails. A telephone system is also picturesque and majestic part of the Canadian Rockies � being installed. many lakes with superb, artistic setting, the sulphur­ A motor road is being constructed from the plains to hotsprings at Banff, and above aU a museum of scenic the coast. It is already complet,ed through this park beauty so extensive and so varied that it equals any in and crosses the continental divide at Vermillion Pass, the world. The contrast of fot"e8ted lower slopes, rock­ fifteen miles west of Banff. barren, towering escarpments and pinnacles, capped with YOHO PARK. snow and ice, and lakes large and smaU nestling in a forest or in a rock face, offer variety and enchantment to Yoho Park, containing about 560 square miles, is the visitor. Tbe topograpby of the park is rugged and situated on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains diatinctly Alpine in eharacter. The lowest valleys reach adjacent to the Rocky Mountains Park. Tho Kicking down to 4,200feet above sea-Ievel, whilo the highest peak Horse River, rising on the conti/wlltal watershed at the A perfect reftection of Mount Assiniboine seen pass oC the same name (Iocally (,-8lled the Great Divide), • Courtesy orScience Ct7MpIcflU. in Lake Magog. Note the "ierd face-Iike form of divid68 the park almost through the center. Tbe grade apubUsllld b1 permissioD or the Oeolos!ealjBune1, Otta1l'a. .ome ferocious anima. when viewed from the 8ide. of �he upper,an of the river 18 very .te&pioat one point © 1915 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN. INC. December 4, 1915 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT No. 2083 361 near the pass, in a distance of 2 % miles there is a differ­ be visited by aß tourists; the Illecillewaet and Asulkan rounded and weIl forested. The broadened river course ence in elevation of 900 feet. glaciers, and the Nakimu caves. Both are reached by forming Jasper and Brule Lakes and the meandering Y oho Valley, the largest tributary from the north, good trails. Within a few minutes' walk from the railway braided character of the stream in places add beauty to shows distinct evidence of the handiwork of the glaciere. it is possible to stand on the frontal lobe of a real living the landscape when backed up by a forested slope ter­ Takakkaw Falls, nearly 1,200 feet high, and Twin Falls, and moving glacier.