Columbia Mountains

Columbia Mountains
The Columbia Mountains are a group of mountain ranges along the Upper Columbia River in British Columbia, Montana, Idaho and Washington. The mountain range covers 135,952 km² (52,491 sq mi). The range is bounded by the Rocky Mountain Trench on the east, and the Kootenai River on the south; their western boundary is the edge of the Interior Plateau. Seventy-five percent of the range is located in Canada and the remaining twenty-five percent in the United States; American geographic classifications place the Columbia Mountains as part of the Rocky Mountains complex, but this designation does not apply in Canada (despite a British Columbia government tourism campaign to rebrand their southern portion as the "Kootenay Rockies"). Mount Sir Sandford is the highest mountain in the range, reaching .
Mountain ranges
The Columbia Mountains are made up of four large ranges containing many subranges:
Cariboo Mountains
Lunn Icefield
Mowdish Range
Premier Range
Vimy Ridge
Wavy Range
Monashee Mountains
Anstey Range
Christina Range
Gold Range
Jordan Range
Kettle River Range
Malton Range
Midway Range
Ratchford Range
Rossland Range
Scrip Range
Whatshan Range
The Pinnacles
Selkirk Mountains
Asulkan Range
Battle Range
Big Bend Ranges
Adamant Range
Sir Sandford Range
Windy Range
Bishops Range
Bonnington Range
Clachnacudainn Range
Dawson Range
Duncan Ranges
Badshot Range
Goat Range
Hermit Range
Kokanee Range
Slocan Ranges
Lardeau Range
Nelson Range
Purity Range
Sir Donald Range
Valhalla Ranges
Ruby Range
Valkyr Range
Norns Range
Purcell Mountains (Percell Mountains in the United States)
The Bugaboos Group
Carbonate Range
Dogtooth Range
Farnham Group
MacBeth Group
McGillivary Range
Moyie Range
Septet Range
Spillimacheen Range
Starbird Ridge
Commander Group
Stockdale Group
Toby Glacier
Truce Group
Yahk Range
Additionally lower areas to the west of the main ranges are sometimes included in the description of the Cariboo Mountains:
Quesnel Highland
Gosse Range
Palmer Range
Goose Range
Palmer Range
Shuswap Highland
Hunters Range
Mabel Range
Park Range
Sawtooth Range
Seymour Range
Shuswap Range
Silver Hills
Trinity Hills
Okanagan Highland
Beaverdell Range
Some classification systems end the Columbia Mountains at the North Thompson River, such that the Cariboo Mountains are assigned to the Interior Plateau. Where the Columbia Mountains meet the Interior Plateau there are intermediary areas known as highlands - the Quesnel Highland (west flank of the Cariboos), the Shuswap Highland (south of the Cariboos and west of the northern Monashees), and the Okanagan Highland (west of the southern Monashees). These are listed here but are often considered to be part of the Interior Plateau.
Some geographic classifications also include the Cabinet Mountains and Salish Mountains, which lie south of the Purcells between the Kootenai River and the Clark Fork of the Columbia, but in US classification systems they are generally considered to be part of the Rocky Mountains.
Physiographically, they are a distinct province of the larger Rocky Mountain System physiographic division.
Highest Mountains
The following mountains are the 10 highest mountains (in order) contained within the Columbian Mountains:
Mount Sir Sandford (3,519 m) (Selkirks)
Mount Sir Wilfrid Laurier (3,516 m) (Cariboos)
Mount Farnham (3,493 m) (Purcells)
Jumbo Mountain (3,437 m) (Purcells)
Howser Spire (3,412 m) (Purcells)
Mount Delphine (3,406 m) (Purcells)
Mount Sir John Abbott (3,398 m) (Cariboos)
Mount Hammond (3,387 m) (Purcells)
Mount Dawson (3,377 m) (Selkirks)
Eyebrow Peak (3,362 m) (Purcells)
Passes
The following passes are located within or on the perimeter of the Columbia Mountains:
Cedarside Pass (Fraser and Columbia Rivers 800m)
Canal Flats (Columbia and Kootenay Rivers)
Rogers Pass (between Revelstoke and Golden)
Kootenay Pass (between Trail and Creston)
Eagle Pass (between Revelstoke and Sicamous)
Monashee Pass (BC Hwy 6)
Bonanza Pass (Christina Lake to Castlegar/Rossland)
National and provincial parks
Ansty Hunakwa Protected Area
Bowron Lake Provincial Park
Bugaboo Provincial Park
Cariboo Mountains Provincial Park
Dunn Peak Protected Area
Glacier National Park
Gladstone Provincial Park
Goat Range Provincial Park
Granby Provincial Park
Graystokes Provincial Park
Kianuko Provincial Park
Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park
Monashee Provincial Park
Mount Revelstoke National Park
Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park
Okanagan Mountain Provincial Park
Purcell Wilderness Conservancy Provincial Park and Protected Area
St. Mary's Alpine Provincial Park
Silver Star Provincial Park
Valhalla Provincial Park
Wells Gray Provincial Park
West Arm Provincial Park
West Twin Provincial Park and Protected Area
See also
References
Sources
Columbia Mountains on Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia
Physiographic provinces
Lists of mountain ranges of Canada
Mountain ranges of British Columbia
Mountain ranges of Idaho
Mountain ranges of Montana
Mountain ranges of Washington (state)