Banff National Park

Banff National Park is Canada's first national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rocky Mountains, 110–180 kilometres (68–112 mi) west of Calgary, Banff encompasses 6,641 square kilometres (2,564 sq mi) of mountainous terrain, with many glaciers and ice fields, dense coniferous forest, and alpine landscapes. It is bordered by Jasper National Park to the north, Yoho National Park and Kootenay National Park to the west in British Columbia, and Kananaskis Country to the southeast. The main commercial centre of the park is the town of Banff, in the Bow River valley.

The mountains were formed from sedimentary rocks that were pushed east over newer rock strata, between 80 million and 55 million years ago. Over the past few million years, glaciers have at times covered most of the park. Glaciers are now found only on the mountain slopes, including the Columbia Icefield, the largest uninterrupted glacial mass in the Rockies. Erosion from water and ice have carved the mountains into their current shapes. Banff National Park has a subarctic climate with three ecoregions, including montane, subalpine, and alpine. The forests are dominated by lodgepole pine at lower elevations and Engelmann spruce in higher ones below the treeline, above which is primarily rocks and ice. Mammal species such as the grizzly bear, cougar, wolverine, elk, bighorn sheep and moose are found, along with hundreds of bird species.

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