Top of the World Provincial Park
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Top of the World Provincial Park
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 Fish Lake in the park |
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| location | British Columbia (Canada) | |
| surface | 87.9 km² | |
| WDPA ID | 18492 | |
| Geographical location | 49 ° 51 ′ N , 115 ° 24 ′ W | |
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| Sea level | from 1600 m to 2845 m | |
| Setup date | June 29, 2000 | |
| administration | BC parks | |
The Top of the World Provincial Park is an approximately 8790 hectares large Provincial Park in the southeast of the Canadian province of British Columbia . It is north-northeast of Cranbrook in the Regional District of East Kootenay . The park can only be reached from Highway 93 or Highway 95 on logging roads.
investment
The park is remote in the Kootenay Ranges , which belong to the Canadian Rocky Mountains as part of the Continental Ranges . The park is characterized by numerous high mountains. Mount Morro , located in the eastern area of the park, is the highest point in the park at 2845 m . West of the mountain is the Top of the World Pass . With Mount Dingley ( 2639 m ) and Mount Doolan ( 2464 m ) there are two other high mountains in the western park area. The lowest point of the park is the valley of the Lussier River , which rises in the park and leaves it to the north, at an altitude of about 1,600 m . The largest lake in the park is Fish Lake .
The park is a Category II ( National Park ) protected area .
history
The park was declared a protected area under the Protected Areas of British Columbia Act in 2000 .
However, there are many archaeological sites in the park, as the area was once the traditional territory of the Ktunaxa . They mined chert here , an obsidian-like stone from which tools and weapons were then made.
Flora and fauna
British Columbia's ecosystem is divided into different biogeoclimatic zones using the Biogeoclimatic Ecological Classification (BEC) Zoning System . Biogeoclimatic zones are characterized by a fundamentally identical or very similar climate and the same or very similar biological and geological conditions. This results in a very similar population of plants and animals in the respective zones. Within this system, the park is assigned to the Alpine Tundra Zone and the Montane Spruce Zone due to its altitude .
At medium altitudes, the forests consist mainly of Douglas fir and Engelmann spruce as well as coastal pine . There are also stocks of green alder , balsam fir , rock mountain larch and white-stemmed pine . The plateaus are covered with alpine flowers in July and August, with large-flowered dog-tooth , Indian paintbrush and globeflowers being the most common, but Canadian dogwood can also be found here.
In the park are basically all the major hunters occurring at these altitudes, such as Grizzly Bear , American Black Bear , Mackenzie Wolf , Puma and Canadian lynx , as well as their typical prey, such as moose , elk , mule deer and white-tailed deer , native. Other large and small mammals that can be found in the park are bighorn sheep and mountain goats . In addition to the pine jay and titjay , the province's heraldic bird, the diademed jay , can also be found in the park. Birds of prey such as bald eagles and ospreys expand the bird population.
Common loons and buffalo ducks live on and around the lakes . Cutthroat trout and dolly varden trout are mainly found in the waters
activities
Since the park can only be reached on logging roads, it is mainly used by anglers, hikers and mountaineers.
Web links
- Top of the World Provincial Park . In: BC Geographical Names (English)
- Top of the World Provincial Park . In: English language website of the park at BC Parks
- Information to the park on britishcolumbia.com (Engl.)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Mount Morro in the Internet version of the English-language Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia
- ↑ World Database on Protected Areas - Top of the World Park (English)
- ↑ Biogeoclimatic Zones of British Columbia. British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations , accessed September 5, 2019 .
- ^ Ecosystems of British Columbia. (PDF; 10.31 MB) British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, 1991, accessed on September 5, 2019 .