Page 129 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Canada

Highway through the Canadian Rockies

CANADIAN ROCKIES

The Canadian Rockies occupy a band of the
provinces of British Columbia and Alberta nearly
500 miles (805 km) wide, and are part of the
range that extends from Mexico through the
US into Canada. Between 65 and 100 million years
ago, a slow but massive upheaval of the Earth’s
crust caused the rise of the Rocky Mountains and
the dramatic, jagged appearance of their peaks,
50 of which are over 10,000 ft (3,048 m) high.
The dramtic scenery and the discovery of natural
hot springs at Banff in 1883 inspired the federal
government to create Canada’s first national park.
In 1984, Banff, Jasper, Kootenay, and Yoho national
parks were together made a UNESCO World Heritage
Site: the superb Canadian Rockies Mountain Parks.
A region of spectacular beauty, the Rockies attract
millions of visitors every year, who come to admire
its rugged snow-topped peaks, luminous glaciers,
and iridescent glacial lakes.
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