Hamber Provincial Park

IUCN Category II - National Park

The Fortress Lake in Hamber Provincial Park

The Hamber Provincial Park is a provincial park in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The 250 km ² protected area covers a pristine section of the Canadian Rocky Mountains.

In the park is a protected area category II (National Park).

Geography

The park is located in the west of the province of British Columbia to the Alberta border and meets there also at the Jasper National Park. The park is located west of the Continental Divide, the mountains in the park are rough and glaciated. In the surrounding region, the Columbia Icefield and the Clemenceau Icefield find.

In the park lies the Fortress Lake, from which flows towards the east of Wood River to the Columbia River.

To the east of the park pass is the Fortress. With a height of 1335 m of the Fortress pass one of the lowest passes through the Canadian Rockies on the no road or railway is leading. At the same time this is the lowest point in the park.

The Chisel Peak with 3046 m the highest point in the park. North of the park boundaries is the, with 3007 m, roughly equal Fortress Mountain.

The park is a so-called Backcountry Park, since it can not be reached on public roads. Basically the park is only accessible on foot from the parking lot at the Sunwapta Falls in Jasper National Park reachable. From the parking lot is 24 miles to Fortress Lake, where there the Chaba River must be forded. The closest cities in British Columbia are Valemount in the north and in the south of Golden.

History

The park was founded in 1941 and named after Eric Hamber, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia from 1936 to 1941. Originally the park with 10,100 square km was much larger than today, and reached to the Columbia River. Because large parts of this area were used for forestry and the Columbia River was dammed for energy, the park area was established in 1961 radically reduced. Its present boundaries were last set in 2004. Here again, the park grew by about 600 ha compared to the previous demarcation in 2000. Since 1975 the park was deliberately done as wilderness without significant tourist facilities.

Since 1990 he has been a part of the Park in the Canadian Rocky Mountains World Heritage Site, it also includes the national parks of Banff, Jasper, Yoho and Kootenay as well as the Provincial Parks Mount Assiniboine and Mount Robson.

Flora and Fauna

Within the ecosystem of British Columbia, Park area of ​​Engelmann Spruce is - Subalpine Fir zone and the Alpine tundra zone assigned.

The vegetation in the park is dominated by alpine meadows and subalpine fir - Engelmann spruce primeval forests, mountain hemlock and subalpine fir trees and very dense undergrowth. The wildlife includes grizzly bears, black bears, mountain goats, elk and mule deer as well as other typical of the Rocky Mountains species. The Fortress Lake is rich in brook trout.

Tourist Facilities

The park is a remote wilderness with only a few tourist facilities. Since the recognition of the park as a World Heritage Site visitor numbers have risen yet 100 per year to about 500 per year, so that the park administration has created a simple campground and rudimentary sanitary facilities at the eastern end of Lake Fortress. Because of living here bear the park administration a Bear poles erected for the food of the hikers. Three additional tent sites can be found on the north shore of the lake.

On Chisel Creek fan on the southern shore of the lake there is also a family owned fishing camp, which is accessible by seaplane.

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