Mount Robson Provincial Park

photo of Mount Robson

Mount Robson Provincial Park is the second oldest park in the British Columbia park system and is truly one of the world's crown jewels. Mount Robson itself is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies at 3,954 meters. The park is located just west of Alberta's Jasper National Park and is supported by a total of three (3) campgrounds. View the area map and be sure to take a look at the photo gallery.

Group sites: Group sites are available for registration at the Robson Meadows Campground only. Be sure to review the terms and conditions prior to submitting the 'Group Registration Form'.

"On every side the snowy heads of mighty hills crowded round, whilst, immediately behind us, a giant among giants, and immeasurably supreme, rose Robson’s Peak"
- Milton and Cheadle, 1865  

About the Park

Mount Robson Provincial Park comprises a portion of one of the world's largest blocks of protected areas. Designated as a part of the Canadian Rocky Mountains World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1990, Mount Robson provides everything from developed, vehicle-accessible camping to remote valleys that seldom see a human footprint. Mount Robson Provincial Park also protects the headwaters of the Fraser River.

History

Mount Robson has a colorful early history of trade and transportation. From the early 1800s with trappers, explorers, hunters, prospectors and ordinary folks seeking the end of the rainbow, to the present day. Transportation is still important through the park with a national highway (Highway 16), a national railway, a national fiber optics system and a major pipeline that connect the prairies to the Pacific Ocean. Now as then, all transportation corridors are confined to a narrow valley bottom strip keeping the vast majority of the park as wilderness.

Many locations in the park recognize the role played by early explorers. Magnificent Overland Falls, at the parks western entrance, honours the journey undertaken in 1862 by 115 men and one woman, through the Yellowhead Pass.

Conservation

Mount Robson Park provides full representation of the North Continental Ranges' landscape. The park protects a complex mountain ecosystem represented by four biogeoclimatic zones. From Interior Cedar Hemlock (ICH) in the valley bottoms, the vegetation communities change as the elevation increases. Sub-boreal Spruce (SBS), Englemann Spruce-subalpine Fir (ESSF) and finally up slope to the Alpine Tundra (AT) zone.

As these vegetation communities change, so do the birds and animals. The diversity of species is very much a product of elevation change. 182 species of birds have been recorded in the park. Predator/prey relationships are maintained within the 80% of the park-zoned wilderness. Vast areas and intact watersheds carry a wilderness conservation zoning label where all human use is unsupported by facility or trail development. In fact, our most important ‘customers’ in these large wilderness areas are the wide variety of flora and fauna that depend on an undisturbed, intact wilderness.

Wildlife

To date, 42 species of mammals, four amphibians, one reptile and 182 species of birds have been recorded in the park. These species are typical of the moist, western slope of the Rocky Mountains. From the valley bottom-loving Moose to the Mountain Goats and Golden eagles of the Alpine Tundra Zone, all four biogeoclimactic zones within the park provide habitat for varied species that favor the unique characteristics found in each zone. This is not to say that species like Grizzly bear or Mule Deer find suitable habitats in only one zone, but generally certain zones or elevations attract specific species.

Campground Maps

Brochures