KOOTENAY NATIONAL PARK AND VICINITY - Canadian Rockies: Including Banff and Jasper National Parks - page 250

PARK ENTRY
Permits are required for entry into Kootenay National Park. A National Parks Day
Pass is adult $9.80, senior $8.30, child $4.90, up to a maximum of $20 per vehicle.
It can also be used in Banff National Park and beyond, if that is your direction of
travel, and is valid until 4pm the day following its purchase. A Discovery Pass,
good for entry into all Canadian national parks for one year from purchase, is adult
$67.70, senior $57.90, child $33.30, up to a maximum of $136.40 per vehicle. Both
types of pass are available from the western park gate, park information centers,
and campground kiosks. For more information, check the Parks Canada website
( www.pc.gc.ca ) .
THE LAND
Kootenay National Park lies on the western side of the Continental Divide, straddling the
Main and Western ranges of the Canadian Rockies. As elsewhere in the Canadian Rock-
ies, the geology of the park is complex. Over the last 70 million years, these mountains
have been pushed upward—folded and faulted along the way—by massive forces deep be-
neath the earth's surface. They've also been subject to erosion that entire time, particularly
during the ice ages, when glaciers carved U-shaped valleys and high cirques into the land-
scape. These features, along with glacial lakes and the remnants of the glaciers themselves,
are readily visible in the park today. The park protects the upper headwaters of the Ver-
milion and Kootenay Rivers, which drain into the Columbia River south of the park.
FLORA
In the lowest areas of the park, in the Kootenay River Valley, Douglas fir and lodgepole
pine find a home. Along the upper stretches of the Vermilion River Valley, where the el-
evation is higher, Engelmann spruce thrive, while immediately above lie forests of sub-
alpine fir. The tree line in the park is at around 2,000 meters (6,560 feet) above sea level.
This is the alpine zone, where low-growing species such as willow and heather predomin-
ate. For a short period each summer, these elevations come alive with color as forget-me-
nots, avens, and avalanche lilies flower. Of special interest is the interpretive trail through
Vermilion Pass Burn, where fire destroyed 2,400 hectares (5,930 acres) of forest in 1968.