The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than 4,800 kilometers (3,000 mi) from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico in the Southwestern United States. Located within the North American Cordillera, the Rockies are somewhat distinct from the Pacific Coast Ranges, Cascade Range, and the Sierra Nevada, which all lie farther to the west.
The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, and the notable volcanoes known as the High Cascades. The small part of the range in British Columbia is referred to as the Canadian Cascades or, locally, as the Cascade Mountains. The latter term is also sometimes used by Washington residents to refer to the Washington section of the Cascades in addition to North Cascades, the more usual U.S. term, as in North Cascades National Park. The highest peak in the range is Mount Rainier in Washington at 14,411 feet (4,392 m).
ThePacific Coast Ranges, are the series of mountain ranges that stretch along the West Coast of North America from Alaska south to Northern and Central Mexico.
The Canadian Rockies or Canadian Rocky Mountains comprise the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. They are the eastern part of the Canadian Cordillera, which is a system of multiple ranges of mountains which runs from the Canadian Prairies to the Pacific Coast. The Canadian Rockies mountain system comprises the southeastern part of this system, lying between the Interior Plains of Alberta and Northeastern British Columbia on the east to the Rocky Mountain Trench of BC on the west. The southern end borders Idaho and Montana of the United States. In geographic terms the boundary is at the Canada/US border, but in geological terms it might be considered to be at Marias Pass in northern Montana. The northern end is at the Liard River in northern British Columbia.
The Selkirk Mountains are a mountain range spanning the northern portion of the Idaho Panhandle, eastern Washington, and southeastern British Columbia which are part of a larger grouping of mountains, the Columbia Mountains. They begin at Mica Peak near Spokane and extend approximately 320 km north from the border to Kinbasket Lake, at the now-inundated location of the onetime fur company post Boat Encampment. The range is bounded on its west, northeast and at its northern extremity by the Columbia River, or the reservoir lakes now filling most of that river's course. From the Columbia's confluence with the Beaver River, they are bounded on their east by the Purcell Trench, which contains the Beaver River, Duncan River, Duncan Lake, Kootenay Lake and the Kootenay River. The Selkirks are distinct from, and geologically older than, the Rocky Mountains. The neighboring Monashee and Purcell Mountains, and sometimes including the Cariboo Mountains to the northwest, are also part of the larger grouping of mountains known as the Columbia Mountains. A scenic highway loop, the International Selkirk Loop, encircles the southern portions of the mountain range.
The American Cordillera is a chain of mountain ranges (cordilleras) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that form the western "backbone" of North America, South America and West Antarctica. It is also the backbone of the volcanic arc that forms the eastern half of the Pacific Ring of Fire.
The Arrow Lakes in British Columbia, Canada, divided into Upper Arrow Lake and Lower Arrow Lake, are widenings of the Columbia River. The lakes are situated between the Selkirk Mountains to the east and the Monashee Mountains to the west. Beachland is fairly rare, and is interspersed with rocky headlands and steep cliffs. Mountain sides are heavily forested, and rise sharply to elevations around 2,600 metres.
Monarch Mountain is one of the principal summits of the Pacific Ranges subdivision of the Coast Mountains in southern British Columbia. It stands just east of a pass between the Klinaklini River and the south branch of the Atnarko River, which is a tributary of the Bella Coola River. Surrounding Monarch Mountain is the Monarch Icefield, the northernmost of the major icefields of the Pacific Ranges, and just south of it is the Ha-Iltzuk Icefield, which is the largest. Monarch is in the southern end of Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park.
Northern Rocky Mountains Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. It is located in the north-eastern part of the province, 90 km south-west from Fort Nelson and it is bordered to the north by the Alaska Highway. Access is mostly done by boat, aircraft, on horseback or by hiking.
The Omineca Mountains, also known as "the Ominecas", are a group of remote mountain ranges in north-central British Columbia, Canada. They are bounded by the Finlay River on the north, the Rocky Mountain Trench on the east, the Nation Lakes on the south, and the upper reaches of the Omineca River on the west. They form a section of the Continental Divide, that, in this region, separates water drainage between the Arctic and Pacific Oceans. The lower course of the Omineca River flows through the heart of the range. To the south of the Ominecas is the Nechako Plateau, to the west the Skeena Mountains and Hazelton Mountains, to the north the Spatsizi Plateau and the Stikine Ranges, while east across the Rocky Mountain Trench are the Muskwa Ranges.
The Hart Ranges are one of the main geographic subdivisions of the Canadian Rockies and are the main part of the area that is meant by the Northern Rockies, although the much larger Muskwa Ranges to the north are more deserving of that term — but also much more inaccessible and much less visited — and the Northern Rockies are generally also considered to extend at least as far south as Mount Robson, which is in the Continental Ranges. The Hart Ranges were named in honour of British Columbia Premier John Hart, as is the highway which traverses the Pine Pass in the northern part of the range, connecting the north-central Interior of the province to its Peace River District to the northeast.
The South Jasper Ranges are mountain ranges of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada.
Crowsnest Range is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Alberta and southeastern British Columbia, Canada.
The Northern Rocky Mountains, usually referred to as the Northern Rockies, are a subdivision of the Canadian Rockies comprising the northern half of the Canadian segment of the Rocky Mountains. While their northward limit is easily defined as the Liard River, which is the northward terminus of the whole Rockies, the southward limit is debatable, although the area of Mount Ovington and Monkman Pass is mentioned in some sources, as south from there are the Continental Ranges, which are the main spine of the Rockies forming the boundary between British Columbia and Alberta. Some use the term to mean only the area north of Lake Williston, and in reference to Northern Rocky Mountains Provincial Park, while others consider the term to extend all the way south, beyond the limit of the Hart Ranges at Mount Ovington, to McBride and Mount Robson.
The Whatshan River is a tributary of the Columbia River in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The river's drainage basin is approximately 390 square kilometres (150 sq mi) in area.
Whatshan Dam was built by the B.C. Power Commission and completed in 1952. It is a concrete hydroelectric dam on the Whatshan River in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The Whatshan powerhouse has undergone three major transformations since 1951 when it was first built by the British Columbia Power Commission to provide electricity to the Okanagan and the Upper Arrow Lakes in 1951. In 1953 the powerhouse was destroyed after a rock and mud slide roared down the mountainside. The powerhouse was rebuilt soon after only to have to be rebuilt again a few metres higher to avoid being flooded after the completion of the Hugh Keenleyside Dam in 1968. The replacement 54MW powerhouse completed in 1972 is at the end of a 3.4 kilometre long tunnel and is located on the western side of Upper Arrow Lake in the Monashee Mountains. It is owned and operated by BC Hydro.
The Lizard Range is a mountain range south-east of Fernie, British Columbia in the Canadian Rockies. This range is home to the Fernie Alpine Resort and parts of the Mount Fernie Provincial Park.
SS Whatshan was a steam tug owned by Canadian Pacific Railway that operated on the Lower Arrow Lakes in British Columbia, Canada from 1909 to 1919. Although she was small, she proved to be the most suited to the Lower Arrow Lake run of all the tugs on the route from 1909 to 1961 because she had enough power to keep the channel open in bad weather when other ships became stranded in ice.
