Nice print titled Le"Grand"glacier, vu du chemin de fer, entre Banff et le col d'Hector, from wood engraving with fine detail and clear impression, nice hand coloring, approx. page size is 27 x 18 cm, approx. image size is 19 x 13 cm. From Amerique Boreale, volume 15 in series La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes / The Earth and Its Inhabitants, great work of Elisee Reclus.

Banff National Park

in full Banff National Park of Canada

scenic natural and wilderness area in southwestern Alberta, Canada. Established  as a national park in 1887, it occupies 2,564 square miles (6,641 square km)  along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains and abuts the border with  British Columbia. Yoho and Kootenay national parks are adjacent to Banff in  British Columbia, and Jasper National Park in Alberta lies to the northwest of  Banff. Much of the rest of the land surrounding the park is within provincial  parks or other protected areas. Park headquarters are in the town of Banff in  the southern part of the park, about 80 miles (130 km) west of Calgary. Noted  for its beauty, plant and animal diversity, and ongoing geologic processes,  Banff National Park was designated part of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks  UNESCO World Heritage site in 1984.

Banff National Park trends northwest to southeast along the line of the Canadian  Rockies between Alberta and British Columbia. Its terrain is largely rugged and  mountainous, a sizable portion of it consisting of high alpine peaks of the Main  Ranges section of the Rockies, particularly in its western section along the  Continental Divide. Most of the rest of the land is designated as subalpine or  montane landscape and lies in the Front Ranges. The mountains in the region are  composed of limestone, shale, and other sedimentary rocks and have a toothlike  appearance as the result of glaciation. Many peaks rise above 10,000 feet (3,050  metres), including Mount Columbia on the park's western border in the Ten Peaks  region, which reaches 11,365 feet (3,464 metres), and Mount Sir Douglas in the  far southeast, with an elevation of 11,175 feet (3,406 metres). Banff contains  active glaciers, including a portion of the extensive Columbia Icefield to the  north, and montane wetlands and meadows, such as the valleys of the Bow and Red  Deer rivers. The park is also noted for its beautiful alpine lakes, particularly  Lake Louise, stretching northeastward from Mount Columbia, and, a short distance  to the south, Moraine Lake.

The region has a cool montane climate that varies considerably with location and  elevation. Summers are moderately warm, with daytime highs in July and August of  about 72 °F (22 °C) at the town of Banff and frequent afternoon thundershowers.  Winters are long, snowy, and cold, with nighttime lows reaching about 5 °F (−15  °C) in January; periodic cold snaps can send temperatures much lower. Snow  generally falls from late September to May, with total seasonal accumulations of  some 10 feet (3 metres).

Tree species of the lower-elevation montane region include Douglas firs,  lodgepole pines, aspen, and, less commonly, black spruce. Englemann spruce,  limber pines, and other conifers grow in the lower elevations of the subalpine  region, with patches of hardier vegetation such as low-growing willows higher  up. The alpine zone above the timberline (about 7,550 feet [2,300 metres])  supports mosses, lichens, and some low shrubs in its lower reaches, but much of  the terrain there consists of bare rock and ice. A large variety of wildflowers  proliferate throughout the zones, most blooming in July and August.

The park is home to several dozen mammal species, among them brown (grizzly) and  black bears, elk (wapiti), moose, mule deer, wolves and coyotes, pumas  (cougars), bighorn sheep and mountain goats, and a large number of smaller  mammals including pikas, wolverines, and marmots and other rodents. Birdlife is  abundant, with more than 260 species known to live in the park or to migrate to  or through it seasonally. Among the most numerous are swallows, waterfowl  (ducks, Canada geese, and teals), and a great variety of songbirds. The park's  lakes and streams have large fish populations, notably of trout, whitefish, and  salmon.